Autobiodraphy of 

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COEXRIGHT DEPOSnV 




ALLEN JAY. 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 



ALLEN JAY 



Born 1831, Died 1910 



ILLUSTRATED 



THE JOHN C. WINSTON CO. 

Philadelphia 






Copyright 1910, 1909. 1908, by 
THE JOHN C. WINSTON CO. 



©CLA:^?53rj9 



PUBLISHERS' NOTE 



The greater portion of this Autobiography 
appeared in The American Friend during 1908 
and 1909, but was carefully revised and some 
of it entirely rewritten by the author for this 
volume. The last pages were received from our 
dear friend Allen Jay shortly before his death, 
which occurred on the Eighth of Fifth Month, 
19 10, at his home, Richmond, Indiana. 



FOREWORD 

Having now entered my seventy-ninth year, 
and looking back, I am prepared to say, "The hand 
of my God has been good upon me." My friends 
and the Church have been pleased to call me to fill 
some active positions during the past fifty years in 
the Church of which I was born a member. Having 
seen many changes and having labored in various 
positions in the Church in connection with others who 
were trying to build up the Redeemer's kingdom in 
the earth, it has seemed to many of my friends that 
I ought to leave an account of the part I have taken 
in the work, of the changes that the Church has 
passed through during these years, and perhaps a 
little sketch of some of those whom I have met dur- 
ing this time. Therefore, with the hope that it may 
be of interest to some who are younger and desirous 
to do the Master's will, I have consented with much 
reluctance to undertake this service in my declining 
years. My greatest reason for hesitation is the fact 
that I have taken an active part in the work in which 
I have been engaged, and therefore I fear that 
the pronoun "I" may appear too prominent in what 
I may have to say. I hope to avoid that as much as 
possible and to be able in all I have to say to give 
the glory to my Heavenly Father, who called me 
from following the plow to enter His vineyard, and 
later, in a more public way, to build up His kingdom. 

The matter in this volume has been written at 
odd moments, amid many other claims upon my time. 

(3) 



4 FOREWORD 

The accoimt lays no claim to literary attainment and 
if there is any appearance of anything of that kind 
it is due to my faithful stenographer, Ruthanna 
Simms, who has done her part so well, and to the 
kind assistance of Professor Elbert Russell, both 
of whom have tried to eliminate the mistakes and 
put the narrative in proper shape for the publishers. 

I wish to express my thanks to my dear uncle 
and avmt, Eli and Mahalah Jay, for their help in 
furnishing facts and correct dates, and to John and 
Charles Thomas, of Baltimore, Maryland, for their 
assistance in obtaining access to the records relating 
to the Baltimore Association work. In a special 
manner, also, I owe much to my dear friend Mary 
Mendenhall Hobbs, who has so greatly helped with 
her pen and with words of encouragement. 

To all of these and to others who by letters and 
words of encouragement from this country and on 
the other side of the sea have aided me, my heart 
goes out in tender love. With this feeling to all 
and for the Church, I now commit my account to the 
reader, praying that God may bless it for good. 

Allen Jay. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER PAGE. 

I. Ancestry and Family 1 1 

II. Early Influences : School and Meet- 
ing 1 8 

III The Millerites and Spiritualists.. 31 

IV. Old Randolph Meeting 37 

V. The Work op my Father and Others 

in the Ministry 45 

VI. Origin and Influence of West Branch 

Quarterly Meeting 53 

VII. Moving to Indiana 64 

VIII. Early Married Life 74 

IX. Beginnings in the Ministry 82 

X. The Draft During the Civil War 95 
Xi. The Setting Up of Western Yearly 

Meeting 99 

XII. The Era of Separation 104 

XIII. Reflections on Separation 113 

XIV. How Nathan Hunt Delayed Sepa- 

ration IN North Carolina 120 

XV. Visits to North Carolina and Balti- 
more Meetings 126 

XVI. Visiting Friends in North Carolina 

and Tennessee 141 

(5) 



6 CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XVII. The Call to the Work op the 

Baltimore Association 147 

XVIII. Conditions in Carolina at the 

Close of the Civil War 153 

XIX. Work and Leaders op the Balti- 
more Association 170 

XX. Duties as Superintendent for 

THE Baltimore Association.... 185 
XXI. Some of the Teachers and Min- 
isters 196 

XXII. Revival Work in North Caro- 
lina 205 

XXIII. Final Work of the Baltimore 

Association 219 

XXIV. Dr. Nereus Mendenhall. ....... 226 

XXV. Delphina E. Mendenhall 233 

XXVI. Preparations for a Visit to 

Great Britain 240 

XXVII. Among Friends in Ireland. ...... 244 

XXVIII. At London Yearly Meeting.... 251 

XXIX. Acquaintance with John Bright. 257 
XXX. Some Prominent English Friends 267 

XXXI. With Friends in Norway 272 

XXXII. Religious Service in England 

AND Scotland 285 

XXXIII. With Stanley Pumphrey in Amer- 

ica 292 

XXXIV. The American Friends Board of 

Foreign Missions 298 



CONTENTS 7 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XXXV. Albert K. Smiley and the 

Providence School 311 

XXXVI. Earlham College Past and 

Present 321 

XXXVII. The Founding of Earlham Col- 
lege 326 

XXXVIII. Educational and Religious In- 
fluence OF Earlham 337 

XXXIX. Filling Various Offices at 

Earlham 344 

XL. Origin of the Five Years 

Meeting 356 

XLI. The Origin of the Bible Insti- 
tute 364 

XLII. The Opening of California 

Yearly Meeting 368 

XLIII. Winter in Alabama and Florida 373 
XLIV. Marriage and Visit to Eng- 
land AND Ireland 386 

XLV. Helping Guilford, Earlham and 

Whittier Colleges 392 

XLVI. From North Carolina to Puget 

Sound 407 

XLVII. The Five Years Meeting of 

1907 415 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



Allen Jay Frontispiece. 

PAGE. 

Walter D. Jay and Mary Jay i6 

Isaac Jay and Rhoda Jay 45 

West Branch Quarterly Meeting House... 53 

Martha A. Jay 74 

Residence of Nathan Hunt 123 

Allen U. Tomlinson and Thomas Jay 128 

Elihu E. Mendenhall 159 

Joseph Moore 179 

The Meeting House at High Point, North 

Carolina 210 

Dr. Nereus Mendenhall and Delphina 

E. Mendenhall ." 232 

Isaac Brown 268 

Yearly Meeting House and Friends at 

Stavanger, Norway 272 

Among the Viten Islands and Stakland 

Meeting House 281 

Eli Jay and Mahalah Jay 304 

Naomi H. Jay 386 



(9) 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 



Chapter I 

ANCESTRY AND FAMILY 

I was born near the southern line of Miami 
County, Ohio. My father, Isaac Jay (1811-1880), 
was bom at the same place, and my mother, Rhoda 
(Cooper) Jay (18 13-1894), was bom about seven 
miles farther south and six miles north of Dayton, 
Ohio. Their parents were pioneers in the settlement 
of the Miami Valley, in southwestern Ohio, in the 
opening years of the last century. My father was 
the son of Walter Denny Jay (1786-1865) and Mary 
(Macy) Jay (i 787-1868). My Grandfather Jay was 
bom in Newberry Coimty, South Carolina, the son 
of John Jay (i 752-1829) and Elizabeth (Pugh) Jay 
(175 5-182 1). Both of his parents were bom in 
Frederick Coimty, Virginia, from whence they emi- 
grated to South Carolina about 1770 and were 
married at Bush River Meeting of Friends, Third 
month 4, 1773. They had eleven children, seven 
sons and four daughters, bom in South Carolina in 
the years 1773 to 1795. The family removed from 
South Carolina to Ohio in 1803, settling at first at 
Waynesville, Warren County, Ohio, and five years 
later in Miami County, Ohio. All their eleven 
children married and had families, and the average 
of the ages of nine of them, the dates of whose 
deaths are known, is over sixty years. 

(IX) 



12 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

My great-grandfather, John Jay, was the son of 
William and Mary (Vestal) Jay. Mary Vestal was 
the daughter of William and Elizabeth (Mercer) 
Vestal. The Vestal family were Friends at Newark 
Monthly Meeting, Pennsylvania, from whence, about 
1730, they removed and settled in the new colony of 
Friends, formed about that time, near Winchester, 
Virginia. There William Jay and Mary Vestal were 
married, about 1743. They were parents of eight 
children, five sons and three daughters, bom in the 
years 1744 to 1765. Little is known of this William 
Jay and nothing with certainty of his ancestry. 
He was probably born in Maryland, and died in 
Virginia before the emigration of the family from 
Virginia to South Carolina, shortly before the Revo- 
lutionary War. The mother, Mary (Vestal) Jay, 
after living more than thirty years in South Caro- 
lina, came to Ohio in 1805, where she lived several 
years. 

My great-grandmother, Elizabeth (Pugh) Jay, 
was the daughter of Thomas Pugh (born 1731) and 
Ann (Wright) Pugh (bom 1725), both natives of 
Pennsylvania. They went with their family from 
Hopewell Monthly Meeting, Virginia, to Bush 
River, South Carolina, in 1769, but returned to Vir- 
ginia in 1777. Ann Pugh was an approved minister 
in the Society of Friends, and, after their return 
from South Carolina, she made two visits, with a 
certificate from Hopewell Monthly Meeting, to 
Friends in North and South Carolina, returning 
from the last visit in 1798. Her husband, Thomas 
Pugh, accompanied her on her first visit, in 1784. 
He was the son of Jesse and Alice (Malin) Pugh, 
both of whom were bom in Pennsylvania in 1711 



ANCESTRY AND FAMILY 13 

and removed to Frederick County, Virginia, about 
1750. Jesse Pugh was the grandson of Ellis Pugh, 
who was born in Wales, 1656, and emigrated with 
his family to Pennsylvania in 1687, where he died in 
1 7 18. Ellis Pugh was a minister in the Society of 
Friends, both in his native land and in Pennsyl- 
vania, preaching in the Welsh language. 

My grandmother, Mary (Macy) Jay, was born in 
Guilford County, North Carolina. She was the 
daughter of Thomas Macy (1765-1833) and Anna 
(Sweet) Macy (i 768-1 840). They were both bom 
in Nantucket Island and taken to North Carolina in 
childhood, about 1 7 7 3 , by their parents. There they 
married at Deep River Meeting of Friends, in the 
early part of the year 1787, and in 1797 removed 
to East Tennessee. In 1807 they came to Miami 
Cotmty, Ohio. They had twelve children, ten of 
whom married and had good-sized families, the 
other two dying in childhood. The average of the 
ages of nine of these, the dates of whose deaths are 
known, is over seventy years. 

Thomas Macy was the son of Paul Macy (1740- 
1832) and Bethiah Macy (i 744-1810), both born in 
Nantucket, where they married in 1761, Bethiah 
dying in North Carolina and Paul in Miami County, 
Ohio. Both were of the fifth generation of the Macy 
family in America, Paul being the grandson of the 
second Thomas Macy (1687-1759), who was the 
grandson of Thomas Macy (i 608-1 682), the immi- 
grant. Bethiah Macy was the granddaughter of the 
second John Macy (1675-1751), the grandson of 
Thomas Macy, the immigrant, who was bom in 
Wiltshire, England. The latter came to America 
some time between 1635 and 1640, and settled at 



14 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

Salisbury, now Amesbury, Massachusetts, where he 
lived till 1659, when he settled in the Island of 
Nantucket, the first white family to locate there in 
the midst of 3,000 Indians. He left Amesbury to 
avoid the persecution that fell upon him because 
he had permitted William Robinson and Marmaduke 
Stevenson to lodge in his house. These dear Friends 
were arrested in Boston a few days later, tried and 
condemned and hung on what is now Boston Com- 
mon, because of their faithfulness in preaching the 
Gospel. 

I was bom the year before my great-great-grand- 
father, Paul Macy, died, and, according to my mother, 
had the honor of being held in his arms in my first 
year. It is now three hundred years since the birth 
of my distinguished ancestor, Thomas Macy, and 
the following four lives cover these three hundred 
years, with an overlapping of eighteen- years: 
Thomas Macy, 1608 to 1682 ; his grandson, John 
Macy, 1675 to 1751; great-great-grandfather, Paul 
Macy, 1740 to 1832, and myself, Allen Jay, 1831 to 
1908. 

My grandmother, Mary (Macy) Jay, embraces in 
her ancestral lines the most of the family names of 
the early settlers of Nantucket Island. Of these, 
the following ten may be given: Austin, Barnard, 
Bunker, Coffin, Coleman, Folger, Gardner, Macy, 
Starbuck and Worth, and by intermarriages she 
was related to almost all the other families foimd in 
Nantucket history. 

My mother, Rhoda (Cooper) Jay, was the daugh- 
ter of Isaac Cooper (1774-1825) and Elizabeth 
(Kennedy) Cooper (1782-1859). Isaac and Eliza- 
beth (Kennedy) Cooper came to Ohio from Georgia, 



ANCESTRY AND FAMILY 15 

where they were probably married. The Cooper 
family came South from Pennsylvania, but when 
we do not know. The records of the South Caro- 
lina and Georgia Meetings of Friends show that sev- 
eral of the name of Cooper belonged to them at 
different times. Isaac Cooper was the son of Isaac 
and Prudence Cooper, and Elizabeth Kennedy was 
the daughter of John and Esther Kennedy. 

I was the oldest of five children. My brother, 
Milton Jay, became a useful man, practiced medi- 
cine for forty years, was rather a noted surgeon, and 
at his death was the chief surgeon of the Rock Island 
Railroad system. He died three years ago in Chi- 
cago. Brother Walter Denny Jay grew up a usefiil, 
Christian man, a farmer, and died at Marion, 
Indiana, about thirty years ago. Brother Abijah 
died in Marion, Indiana, May 18, 1909. He was at 
one time County Commissioner of Grant County. 
For a number of years he was connected with the 
public school work and helped to secure the Marion 
Carnegie Library. Sister Mary Jay Baldwin, the 
youngest of the family, has been a minister in our 
Society for a number of years, and still lives at 
Marion, Indiana. 

I feel that I owe much to my ancestors and to 
the Church which has done so much for me. My 
grandparents were persons of marked character, 
especially my Grandfather Jay. As an illustration 
of his character, I will give the following incidents: 
He settled on a farm in the woods of Miami County, 
Ohio. It was customary in that new country for 
the farmers to go into the green woods and kill the 
green timber by cutting a circle around a tree and 
then leaving it imtil it was dead. This was called 



1 6 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

' ' deadening. ' ' During the winter season they would 
cut down these dead trees, cut them off or bum 
them off at a suitable length to roll into log heaps. 
Then, in the spring of the year, the neighbors would 
unite and go to one farmer's house, taking their 
oxen, log chains and axes, and spend one, two or 
three days, as the nimiber of acres might reqmre, 
in rolling and piling these logs into heaps to be 
burned. Then they would go to the next neighbor 
and spend the time in the same way. Sometimes 
the women would go, also, and have quiltings at the 
same time. One spring, when they had gone the 
rounds, they went to my grandfather's the last one, 
he being the yoimgest married person in the neighbor- 
hood. When they went to work they soon found 
out that grandfather had not provided the whiskey 
which was thought to be necessary in those days at 
bam raisings and log rollings. By night the mur- 
muring had increased, so that his father told him it 
would be necessary for him to comply with the 
custom or the neighbors woiild not come back to 
help him finish. In the evening, when the time came 
to quit work, he got on top of a large stump, and, 
calling the men aroimd him, delivered the following 
speech : 

*' Neighbors, I have helped you roll your logs all 
through the spring, and have not tasted your liquor, 
and now, if you cannot help roll my logs without 
liquor to drink, you can go home." There was no 
liquor brought, but the logs were all rolled. So far 
as I know, this was the first temperance speech ever 
made in that part of Ohio. 

Soon after my marriage, my wife and I settled on 
a farm on the Wea Plains, near the High Gap, about 



ANCESTRY AND FAMILY 17 

eight miles southwest of Lafayette. There being a 
good orchard on the farm, I took a load of winter 
apples to the city to sell one day. When I stopped 
my wagon near a bank in the city, the president of 
the bank, who was called Judge Barbee, came out 
and looked at them. He asked me how many there 
were and the price. Being satisfied, he went in and 
got his hat, came out and got on the wagon and we 
drove to his house. We commenced measuring 
them out and his hired man carried them into the 
cellar. Pretty soon he asked me where the apples 
were raised and what my name was. When I told 
him, he looked at me and said: "Are you any 
relation to 'old Uncle Denny Jay,' of Miami County, 
Ohio?" When I told him that I was his eldest 
grandchild, he lay down the half-bushel and said, 
"We will not measure another apple. I will take 
your word as to the number of bushels." When I 
reminded him that a great many good grandfathers 
had dishonest grandsons, the reply was, " You cannot 
afford to lie if you are his grandson. I have done 
several thousand dollars' worth of business with 
your grandfather and we never had a scratch of a 
pen between us. I would trust his word for any 
sum." This reminds us of the saying of George 
Fox, "Then the lives of Friends began to preach. " 
It would be hard to compose a sentence more signifi- 
cant to a thinking Christian of to-day than this 
expression of George Fox. It reminds us of the 
saying, "Thy life speaks so loud I cannot hear thy 
words. " 



Chapter II 

EARLY INFLUENCES: SCHOOL AND 
MEETING 

Having given a rather full genealogy of my 
ancestors, especially on my grandfather and grand- 
mother Jay's side, I now proceed to give some 
account of my life and work in connection with the 
Church in which I was born a member, and in which 
I have labored more or less for over fifty years. 

The educational advantages that surrounded my 
early childhood were those common to the new 
country of that day. There were no public schools, 
but Friends very early had schools started under 
their control. Here again I was blessed in having 
a father who took more interest in education than 
many persons did. He himself, though not much 
of a scholar, was chosen to teach two or three terms 
in the log school-house in the neighborhood. It was 
built of logs on the plan of that day, with openings 
cut out on one side and paper pasted over them for 
window lights. Holes were bored in the logs and 
a broad board fastened on for a writing desk. When 
the time came for writing, we sat on a high bench 
with our faces to the wall so that the light from 
these primitive windows might fall upon our paper. 

One incident in my early life showed my father's 
interest in the education of his children. I had just 
commenced going to school. When I awoke one 
morning my mother told me that I could not go to 

(i8) 



SCHOOL AND MEETING 19 

school that day, as it had been snowing during the 
night and I was too Httle to walk through the snow 
to the school-house and father could not spare the 
time to take me. I began to fret and cry, because I 
wanted to go. Father was busy out in the bam 
threshing wheat, in the way that many farmers did 
in those days. The wheat was laid down with the 
heads together in a circle around the barn floor, and 
then the horses were turned on to it and made to 
walk around while the farmer with his fork kept it 
stirred up until the wheat was all threshed out. 
While I was pleading with my mother to let me go, 
my father pulled the string, raised the door-latch 
and said, ** Where is Allen?" Mother replied, "He 
is here fussing because he cannot go to school." 
Father simply said, " It is time for him to go. Where 
is his dinner? " When mother handed it to him, he 
got down on the porch and told me to put my arms 
around his neck. He then put his hands behind 
him to hold me up, carried me half a mile to the 
school-house, set me down on the door step and 
said, "Be a good boy and wait until I come after 
thee to-night." Many times in life I have been 
thankful that I had a father who thought enough of 
his boy to stop his work and carry him to school on 
his back. 

The same example of faithfulness in the attend- 
ance of meetings for worship and discipline, on the 
part of my parents, was a training that I appreciate. 
It has been a strength to me through life. Some of 
my earliest recollections are of being taken to meet- 
ing with the other children and made to sit quietly 
through the meetings, many of which were held in 
silence. Some of these meetings wherein there 



20 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

was not a word spoken are impressed upon my 
memory to this day. I can remember that while 
sitting in stillness I was often impressed with the 
desire to be a good boy. This stillness was some- 
times broken by vocal prayer, during which the 
congregation rose, pulled off their hats and turned 
their backs to the one who was engaged in vocal 
prayer. We were also expected to bow our heads, 
and, when he was through, to sit down with as little 
noise as possible. I have wondered sometimes 
whether, if more of this reverence were manifested 
to-day in time of vocal prayer, we might not find it 
beneficial. When the minister rose to address the 
meeting, there was attention given to what he said 
that is lacking to-day in many places when the 
sermon is preached. While there was not so much 
doctrine preached, the message was directed to the 
hearts of the hearers and they were impressed with 
the fact that we were called to live pure and honest 
lives, and, above all, that God sees us at all times. 
While much of this ministry was directed to the 
observance of outward things, yet we were forcibly 
reminded that God expected us to obey the teaching 
of His Spirit and to live honest and upright lives. 
Let us not speak lightly of the ministry of our fore- 
fathers. Some of us, as we look back to the lives of 
those who were brought up under their ministry, are 
ready to believe that they were God-fearing men 
and women. They were the salt of the commimity 
where they lived and leaders for good among their 
fellow-men. Their word was as good as a bond. 

When I was about ten years old my parents 
moved from Mill Creek Meeting, where I was bom, 
to Randolph Meeting, located some six miles north 



SCHOOL AND MEETING 21 

of Da3rton, Ohio, and settled in the old home where 
my mother was brought up and lived until she was 
married. Here the course of my life continued to 
flow on in the channels common to a farmer's boy 
in that day. My father was a hard-working man. 
We children were taught to labor and do all kinds 
of work incident to a farmer's life. My mother was 
in poor health and it fell to my lot as the oldest child 
to assist in the washing each week. It was an im- 
written law that this had to be done on Second-day 
morning. For some two or three years I did the 
most of it myself, putting the clothes through the 
washing, and boiling, bluing, starching and hanging 
them out without any assistance, but I cannot say 
that I ever enjoyed it, although it was the under- 
standing that when it was done I was to have the 
remainder of the day to fish, hunt, go swimming, or 
do whatever I desired. Life went on in this way, 
divided between working on the farm in the summer 
and going to school in the winter. Our school- 
house was near the meeting-house. When the 
meeting hour came on Fifth-day, we all went in a 
body to the meeting. Here, again, I believe our 
fathers were right in mingling religion with educa- 
tion, or, in other words, in educating the heart along 
with the intellect. Sometimes, after there had been 
a long silence, some one would rise and speak so 
long that we were made to fear that the time for 
our games of base, town-ball, or bull-pen would be 
cut short. It was a practical lesson in patience. 
Perhaps we did not always let it do its perfect 
work. Be that as it may, years afterwards, in 
another State, when my father sent me away from 
home to attend an academy, where there was a 



2 2 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

Friends Meeting about three-quarters of a mile from 
the school-house, I had so fixed in my mind the 
importance of going to meeting in the middle of the 
week that when the hour came for the Fourth-day 
meeting, I arranged with the principal that I might 
rise from my seat and go out and attend the meeting. 
It made me appear a little like a speckled bird 
among my schoolmates, yet in walking through the 
woods, going and coming, the sense of doing right 
was often a comfort. Years afterwards, one of that 
ntmiber who had grown to be a man said that my 
example in this had first led him to consider the 
subject of religion. 

Conversion ♦ 

About the thirteenth year of my age there 
occurred a scene in my life which stands out more 
vividly than any other in the history of my attend- 
ance on West Branch Quarterly Meeting, the 
quarter to which we belonged. It was during the 
consideration of the "State of Society," as it was 
called, when they read the "Queries and Answers," 
and the condition of the Church was brought in 
review before the meeting. A Friend arose with 
a concern on his mind for some one who was present. 
With his face turned towards the far corner of the 
house, where I sat among the young people, he 
entreated that we should yield our hearts to the 
tender visitation of God's love. He went on with 
his loving message, pointing us to the Spirit of God 
that would lead us in the way of truth and righteous- 
ness. The messenger has long since passed away, 
but his message is not forgotten. The meeting 
closed and I rode home on horseback in company 



SCHOOL AND MEETING 23 

with other young people, but did not enjoy the 
laughing and foolishness of the crowd. After supper 
I went out into the orchard and sat down to pray. 
I wanted to kneel down and offer prayer, but my 
training was such that I felt that none but those 
called to public prayer should kneel down. After 
sitting in silence a while, I rose to go to the house, 
but the burden was so great that I returned and 
ventured to kneel, thereby hoping to find peace. 
Now I was impressed that I should open my mouth 
and speak out the burden of my soul. But here 
again my education was such that I was afraid to 
speak words unless called to public ministry. We 
had been told we could pray as well by thinking as 
by speaking. I rose and started to the house again. 
The burden was so great that I went back and fell 
on my knees and broke out in vocal expression, con- 
fessing my sins and asking God to forgive. Joy 
came to my soul. Sweet peace filled my heart. 
After waiting a while to wipe away the tears of joy, 
I went into the house, trying to hide my feelings. 
But a mother's loving heart and watchfiil eye per- 
ceived that something had come over her boy. 
When the time came to go to bed, she put her hand 
on my shoulder and simply remarked that we had 
had a good meeting that day and she hoped I would 
rest well. Dear mother wanted to say more, but 
her training, like that of most Friends of that time, 
was to repress all religious conversation. I have 
often wondered what would have been the result 
had she taken me to her embrace and told me what 
the change was — that I had been converted and 
that God had heard my petition. I doubt not she 
prayed for me, and if she had spoken to me it might 



24 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

have saved me days of darkness and doubt in coming 
years. In reviewing this blessed experience I am 
often impressed with the fact of how Httle theology 
there was mixed with the preaching of those dear 
Friends compared with the hair-splitting doctrines 
and controversies we hear in some places in our 
Church to-day. But after threescore and ten years, 
having seen the results of the ministry of that day, 
which directed our thoughts to the Spirit of God 
and urged us to listen to His voice as He called us to 
follow Him, and comparing it with the dogmatic 
and superficial teaching of some of the present day, 
who point us to their own experience in spiritual 
things, I am ready to say that our fathers' ministry 
produced men and women of ability and Christian 
character which I sometimes fear are not produced 
by the methods of the modem revivalist. They 
were men and women who were the salt of the earth, 
who walked the earth in the fear of the Lord and 
kept themselves unspotted from the world. 

Family Worship 

Soon after these occurrences, another took place 
which strengthened my religious life. My father 
had a hard spell of sickness which lasted several 
weeks. I heard the doctor say to my mother one 
evening when leaving, " I fear yoiu" husband will not 
get well." When I stood by the bed that night, 
before retiring, father said to me, "Be a good boy 
and help mother all thee can." It was not custo- 
mary in those days, in that community, even among 
Christians, to have family worship. However, I 
heard my father say to mother, " If I get well, we 
will have religious services in the house." Two or 



SCHOOL AND MEETING 25 

three weeks later, one night, mother brought a 
rocking-chair, placed a bed-quilt over it, and 
pillows upon it, and then, going to the bed, helped 
my father out and led him to the chair. She 
brought the Bible, and while we children sat around 
father read a few verses from it. Then he asked 
mother to help him down on his knees. She knelt 
by his side and held him while he offered vocal 
prayer. I have seen many beautiful paintings that 
have cost large sums of money, but no pictiure is 
more vivid and beautiful in my memory than that 
of mother holding father while he prayed. I do not 
remember much of that prayer, but the words, " God 
bless Allen and make him a good boy, " have followed 
me over land and sea. I pity the child who has 
never heard his father pray. 

I would not convey the idea that because the 
Friends of that day did not read the Bible in family 
worship, that they never read the Bible. Many of 
them read it much. Many of us can call to mind 
how grandfather and grandmother read the Bible, 
with a solemn tone, similar to that in which many 
of the ministers of that day delivered their messages, 
and their old Bibles lying upon the shelf to-day are 
well worn with much use. 

It may appear strange that my father was often 
found fault with for introducing family worship 
into our house. Some Friends were uneasy, fearing 
it might result in reading the Bible formally and 
having formal worship. One dear Friend, whose 
name I will not mention, traveling on a religious 
visit, stopped with us over night. When father 
brought out the Bible and remarked that it was our 
custom to read before going to bed, he made the 



2 6 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

remark, "I suppose it will not hurt me to sit and 
listen to it." The next day, at quarterly meeting, 
he preached, but it did me no good. I did not want 
to hear him, for I knew what it had cost my father to 
introduce this practice in his family. 

Visiting Friends 

The hospitality of Friends in those days was 
something to look back to with pleasure. Our home 
was on the direct line between Miami and West 
Branch Quarterly Meetings. We always expected 
a nimiber of Friends the night before quarterly 
meeting from Center and Miami, as well as Friends 
traveling in the ministry. Among these I recall 
the names of Thomas Evans, Joseph Doan, Asher 
Brown, Samuel Steddom, Abram Taylor, Joseph 
Taylor (who afterwards founded Bryn Mawr Col- 
lege) and many others. Very often with these 
would be a company of Friends from other yearly 
meetings, such as Joseph D. Hoag, John and Eliza- 
beth Meader and Benjamin Seebohn. These were 
days that we looked forward to with interest. 
Everywhere was activity, in the house and outside, 
getting ready to welcome the company. It was a 
feature in my home life that had much to do with 
shaping it for the Church. I have known as many as 
thirty visitors to stay all night at my father's. We 
boys learned to sleep on the floor, giving up our 
beds to others. The young people among the 
visitors shared the floor with us. After supper I 
enjoyed sitting in the corner and listening to the 
conversation about the Church and its work, inter- 
spersed with anecdotes about noted Friends, espe- 
cially about the ministers and their work and travels. 



SCHOOL AND MEETING 27 

It was very instructive. It was a history of the 
past that had been handed down from one genera- 
tion to another. The Friends who could tell the 
most stories and create the most laughter were our 
heroes, especially if they noticed us and laid their 
hands upon our heads or asked us how old we were, 
or some other commonplace question. We never 
thought of getting sleepy, but as it grew late, some 
one would suggest that it was near bedtime. Then 
the Bible was brought out, father would read a 
portion of Scripture and we dropped into silence. 
After a little perhaps some one or two might engage 
in vocal prayer, and perhaps another might feel 
called to express a word in the line of the ministry, 
in the way of encouragement and advice, and some- 
times a word might be spoken directly to us children. 
This was called a " religious opportunity before going 
to bed." Let no one be surprised that these occa- 
sions live in the memory of those of us who are 
growing old. 

The Underground Railroad 

Sometimes the discussions would develop a 
difference of opinion on some subject claiming the 
attention of the Church. There were sometimes 
two or three beds in one room, and one night two 
Friends who slept in the bed near where my brother 
and I were sleeping kept up a long conversation on 
the subject of the ** Underground Railroad," and 
the practice that some Friends engaged in of helping 
the runaway slaves to reach a place of safety. To 
my young Friends, who may not understand the 
** Underground Railroad" of that day, it may be 
explained that it was a system of helping runaway 



2 8 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

slaves from one "station" to another, generally at 
night, until they reached Canada or some other place 
of safety. My father's house was one of the stations 
on this "railroad," and while these dear Friends 
were discussing the propriety of engaging in this 
work, one of them feeling that it was hardly the 
right thing to do, while the other upheld the prac- 
tice, my mind was actively engaged in thinking; 
for a few days before this our family physician, who 
was an Abolitionist, had ridden up to the gate, 
called my father out and told him that there was a 
nmaway slave out in the woods nearby, and that he 
was being pursued by his master and others. I 
heard the conversation and understood its meaning, 
though I was young. He rode off and my father 
turned to me and said, " I am going out back of the 
house to work. If any negro comes to the gate thee 
can take him down in the cornfield and hide him 
under that big walnut tree, but thee is not to tell 
me or any one else." As the com was very tall in 
the bottom, no one could see him. In a little while 
the poor man came, with his bleeding feet and 
ragged clothes, looking around and showing that he 
was very much frightened. I went to him and told 
him I would hide him. At first he was afraid of me 
and asked me if I was Mr. Jay's son, and when I told 
him I was he followed me. I took him down to the 
walnut tree and told him to remain there until I 
came after him. He said, " I am hungry. I want 
a drink." I told him I would look after that. 
When I got back to the house mother was in the 
kitchen fixing up a dinner in a basket. I knew 
what that meant without asking any questions. 
Pretty soon she simply said to me, "Allen, if thee 



SCHOOL AND MEETING 29 

knows anybody who thee thinks is hungry, thee 
might take this basket to him. " I started out with 
it and a jug of milk and went to the cornfield. The 
poor man heard me coming through the corn, and, 
not knowing whether I was friend or foe, had his 
pistol ready to shoot when I drew in sight. The 
moment he saw me he commenced smiling. I left 
my load with him with the promise that perhaps I 
would come after him about dark. During the 
afternoon, the men who were pursuing him came 
up to the gate and called. They asked my father 
if he had seen a "nigger" going by. He truthfully 
said he had not. I kept out of sight. They 
threatened to search the house. Father told them 
they were welcome to do so, provided they had the 
proper authority. After talking roughly for a while, 
they rode off in a hurry. That evening, just as it 
was growing dark, my father hitched up " Old Jack" 
to the buggy and tied him in the barnyard. He 
then came into the house and asked me how I would 
like to go to my grandfather's. Understanding 
what he meant, I told him I would be very willing 
to go. He added, '' If thee knows of anybody thee 
thinks ought to go, thee had better take him along. " 
I went out and closed the door and soon had the 
negro in the buggy with me. The poor fellow could 
see that I felt a little afraid to be with him alone, 
and asked me if I were not. When I did not give a 
positive answer, he said, " If you are afraid of me, 
I will let you carry the pistol." After we got 
started, he said, " If anyone comes to take me, you 
must stop and give me the pistol, I will get out and 
you drive on, for I do not want you to be hurt. 
I am never going to be taken back. They may kill 



30 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

me, but I intend to kill one first. " As I looked at 
the poor man and saw his condition, for he had 
shown me his lacerated back that had been cut by 
the whip, I did not tell him that it was wrong to 
shoot. Neither did I stop to give him a lecture on 
peace principles. About lo o'clock we reached my 
grandfather's. I went to the door and told him 
what was up. He understood the situation. He at 
once called my uncle, Levi Jay, and in about thirty 
minutes each one was on a horse on their way to 
Mercer County, where there was a large settlement 
of negroes, which was another important *' station. " 
We learned afterwards that he reached Canada 
safely. 



Chapter III 

THE MILLERITES AND SPIRITUALISTS 

As I have already said, at this time I was very 
much interested in religious subjects and was ready 
to listen to all I might hear on religious doctrine. 
My experiences ought to be a lesson to parents to 
be careful about whom they employ, who will be 
associated with their children. My father had a 
hired man on the farm with whom I had to work. 
It was at the time of the Millerite excitement in 
regard to the end of the world and the second coming 
of our Lord Jesus Christ. This was in 1843. He 
was in the habit of attending their meetings of 
nights, became convinced of their doctrine and 
believed that they had predicted the exact time of 
His personal coming. He was able to quote their 
interpretation of the Scriptures in the language of 
their ministers. He told me that some of their 
members were preparing their white robes in order 
that they might be ready to meet the Lord in the air 
at His coming. I became deeply impressed and 
desirous that I might also be ready. When the 
morning of the day came, on which they had prophe- 
sied that He would come at twelve o'clock, I felt 
little like eating breakfast. After we had finished 
eating, father, who was going away from home that 
day, pointed to the woodpile and told me he wanted 
me to chop and pile up that wood while he was gone. 
He noticed that there was something the matter and 

(31) 



32 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

asked me if I was sick. I answered "No." But 
mother, who understood something of her boy's 
feelings, followed him into the room and told him 
what she believed was the matter. He came to me 
and told me that he hoped I would not be uneasy, 
for he remembered several times having been set 
for the ending of the world since he was a boy, and 
that, in his opinion, I had better chop the wood, for 
he thought we should need it next winter to biun. 
He went away and I went to the woodpile, but had 
no heart for the work, for I felt if all things were 
coming to an end at noon we would not need the 
wood and I had better be thinking about something 
else. For me it was a serious time. I shall never 
forget my feelings. I could not work. Near twelve 
o'clock I sat down on a log, waiting to hear the old- 
fashioned family clock strike the hoiu*. When it 
began, I looked up, looked all arovmd, and after 
waiting a few minutes and seeing no change, my 
mind was relieved, and that afternoon I chopped 
wood with a lighter heart than I ever had before, 
and by night had it all piled up nicely. That wood 
was burned up more than threescore years ago, and 
now sometimes when I hear people telling that the 
time is near at hand when He is coming, I think 
that the Church had better go on chopping wood 
and remember that our Saviour said: "No man 
knoweth the time; no, not even the Son of Man." 
As a f-urther illustration of the influence that may 
be exerted upon children by those who are in the 
employ of their parents, I will mention another 
instance in my religious experience which made a 
deep and solemn impression upon my mind. I can 
never look back to it without thankfulness that I 



MILLERITES AND SPIRITUALISTS 33 

was delivered from temptation. It was at the time 
when what they called spirit rappings were being 
introduced, and a person who claimed to be a 
spiritual medium and to converse with those who 
were dead, persuaded me secretly to meet with a 
few of that class and to take part in their exercises. 
To be sure, my parents knew nothing of it. Neither 
did they know that I was furnished with books and 
pamphlets on this subject and literature that dis- 
carded the Bible and endeavored to point out the 
inconsistency of its teaching. For nearly two years 
I was more or less under this influence. I look 
back to it as a time of spiritual darkness. I lost 
the freshness of my religious experience and no 
longer enjoyed our religious meetings. But all this 
time there was a fearful feeling that made me uneasy 
and restless. One First-day I had been lying 
upon my bed during the afternoon, reading some 
of this literature. As it began to grow too dark 
to read I laid down the paper, and as I did so the 
thought came to me, "Perhaps there is a reality in 
the religion of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the 
Bible may be true, and what I have been reading 
may be false. " This impression came upon me with 
such force that I buried my face in the pillow and 
exclaimed, "Oh Lord, I want to know the truth. 
I don't want to be deceived. Show me what is 
right." I lay still for a little while, and do not 
know to this day whether I fell asleep or not, but 
this I do know, that all at once it came to me that 
I was standing in an open plain, with nothing in 
sight but the earth beneath and sky above. As I 
stood there, it appeared to me, a large building rose 
in front of me. It was so large that the ends were 



34 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

lost to sight, and so high that the top appeared to be 
hidden in a cloud of glory. As I stood listening to 
the music that I heard coming through the clouds 
from the top of the building, one more beautiful 
than any I had ever seen, like unto the Son of Man, 
approached me and said, "My child, what art thou 
doing ? " I told him I was listening to the music that 
came from the top of yonder building. He said, 
"Eye hath not seen nor ear heard what the Lord 
hath for those who reach that place." I said, "I 
am going up there. " He then pointed to the only 
door there was in the whole building. It was narrow 
and was overshadowed by cherubim. I went with 
all the intense purpose with which a young Christian 
ever starts on his Christip.n journey. No sooner 
had I started up the stairs than the doors began to 
open upon the right and upon the left, and from 
each door some one was calling me to come in. I 
kept on, but went more and more slowly until I 
stopped, with one foot on the next step. A voice 
at my left hand said, "Where are you going?" I 
told him I was going out on top of the building. He 
replied that we were all going to the same place and 
that there were innumerable rooms in this great 
building, and much to be seen and learned and 
enjoyed upon the way, and at his earnest persuasion 
I entered into the room, which I found was devoted 
to historical research; but I soon grew tired of his 
portrayal of the beauty and elevating effect to be 
found in his department and said I wanted to go 
back. Immediately another door opened a little 
further away, and some one beckoned me in there. 
This room was devoted to geological research, and 
here again the occupant endeavored to interest me 



MILLERITES AND SPIRITUALISTS 35 

in the history and formation of the world, but I soon 
grew tired and said I wanted to go back. Then 
another door opened further off and I was invited 
to another room, where I was told I would he sure to 
be satisfied. This, I believe, was given over to 
theological discussions and religious controversy. 
I soon tired of that and was starting to return when 
another opened, and I entered a room of pleasure 
and beauty and was shown the happiness there was 
in worldly enjoyments; but, as before, I was tired 
and sick and turned my face to go back when another 
room opened and another voice called me. This 
room was just as unsatisfactory as the others, and 
the same was continued until I had passed through 
six or seven rooms. I became utterly tired and 
overwhelmed with sorrow that I had ever left the 
straight stairway that led up to the top, and I ex- 
claimed, "What shall I do and where shall I go?" 
as I discovered that the doors through which I had 
passed had all been locked when I entered. All at 
once where I was became darkness. I tried to find 
the door by going around and feeling on the walls. 
The walls were iron, the ceiling overhead was iron 
and the floor was iron. In despair, I fell on my face 
and exclaimed, "I am lost, I am lost." Words 
would fail to describe my feelings at that moment. 
I can never think of them without a shudder. As I 
lay weeping, I heard a gentle noise. I raised my 
eyes and there stood one like unto the Son of Man, 
with tears on his cheeks. He stooped and placed 
his hand upon my head and said, " Arise, follow me." 
I arose and followed Him. He took me back through 
every room that I had passed through, and as he 
approached the doors opened of themselves. He 



36 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

took me down to the door where I had started from, 
laid his hand upon my head and said, "Now follow 
thou me." I remember well, as he started up the 
steps, I watched his feet and endeavored to put mine 
in his footsteps as we went up. Soon after we 
started the doors began to open on either side as 
before. I remember putting my fingers in my ears 
that I might not hear the voices. When we reached 
the top he took me in his arms and said to the 
redeemed, as they gathered round him in praise, 
"Another soul has been redeemed," and presented 
me to them. The joy was so great that I was roused 
from my dream or vision, whichever it may have 
been, and found myself weeping for joy. I lay 
quiet for a moment, feeling that this was a revela- 
tion to me in answer to my prayer. I rose from my 
bed, took the spiritualistic papers to the fireplace 
and burned them up. The books that I had bor- 
rowed I returned to their owners as soon as possible 
and announced to the man who had influenced me 
to attend their circles that I should do so no more. 
I have hesitated to write down this experience for 
fear it might seem to make too much of dreams 
and visions. But I feel that, however it is to be 
explained, that dream was the means by which I 
was led back to walk in His footsteps who said, " I 
am the Way, the Truth and the Life. " 



Chapter IV 

OLD RANDOLPH MEETING 

Perhaps a description of the meeting where I 
spent my boyhood days may be interesting to some 
of my young readers. Like many of the cotintry 
meetings seventy-five years ago, it was located at 
the side of the road in a grove. This we find was the 
case in most of the yearly meetings, and especially 
was this true in the South. Often these meeting- 
houses were so hidden that you would not see them 
until you came very near, or would be revealed to 
you by seeing the horses tied to the trees or to a 
swinging limb overhead. The hiding of the meet- 
ing-houses may have resulted from the fact that the 
early Friends in England, on account of persecution, 
built back from the streets so that they were hidden 
by high walls or other buildings. In some places 
they would pass through a gate; in other place 
under a covered archway into an open court to reach 
the meeting-house. In some instances in our 
country this building of our meeting-houses in 
secluded places has resulted in some feeling when it 
has been proposed to move the location to a more 
central place where more people could reach the 
house with less travel. It should be the rule, in 
locating a house for worship, to build it where the 
greatest number can reach it with the least travel. 
God will meet where two or three are met in His 
name. Our little brick meeting-house at Randolph, 

(37) 



38 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

like many others, was built in a grove, with many- 
trees on all sides of it. One particularly large beech 
tree, filled with nuts nearly every season, I especially 
remember. A large oak tree had been cut down in 
front of the house, and the body of the tree had 
never been cut up. There we boys gathered and 
talked over things pertaining to our neighborhood 
and other things that interested us until "meeting 
set. " We had no First-day school in those days, 
as most Friends in that part of Ohio did not. The 
"setting of meeting" was indicated by the older 
Friends going into the meeting-house, taking the 
little children with them and seating them by their 
sides. We older children arranged ourselves as we 
saw proper, but we, too, were under the watchful 
eyes of our parents. Inside of the house were rows 
of seats, which, in our meeting-house, were better 
than some others, because they had backs to the 
benches, though our feet did not reach the floor until 
we got to be big boys. There were three seats facing 
the body of the meeting. The first and second were 
called " facing seats, " the upper one the " top seat.' ' 
The top seat had the ministers and sometimes some 
of the elders sitting upon it. The next two were 
filled with older Friends, whose lives had been such 
that they were deemed worthy to occupy them. 
The inside of the house was divided by a partition 
called "shutters." The women sat on one side of 
this partition and the men on the other. About the 
usual length of time for meetings for worship was 
occupied with the "shutters open," on days for 
business meetings, during which words in the min- 
istry, in exhortation or vocal prayer, were sometimes 
heard. Then the Friend who sat head of the meet- 



OLD RANDOLPH MEETING 39 

ing would rise and say that if " Friends' minds were 
easy," he thought the shutters might be closed and 
we might proceed with the business of the meeting. 
Ours was a "Preparative Meeting" only, a meeting 
so called because it was intended to prepare and get 
in shape business to be forwarded to the monthly 
meeting and other matters of a local character per- 
taining to our special meeting. The closing of the 
shutters in our particular meeting-house was not 
always easy. Sometimes the rope would get off of 
the pulley or a rope at one end would break. In 
such cases as this we boys would have to wait for 
an older person to come and help. When this was 
all done the clerk proceeded with the business by 
reading the minutes of last meeting. Often there 
was business in common to both men's and women's 
meetings, which was carried from one clerk's table 
to that of the other by "messengers" — a man 
representing our side and a woman the women's side. 
To us of the present day the question naturally 
arises: why did they not transact the business 
together, without separating one sex from the other ? 
To those who have studied the religious history of 
the times, when George Fox was "moved," as he 
says, "by the Lord, to establish women's meetings 
of business, " the wonder is rather that he gave them 
the privilege of holding meetings and looking after 
the interests of the Church as far as he did. John 
Bright said to me at one time, when we were standing 
on a hill where George Fox had once preached to a 
great multitude, "He was the greatest reformer the 
world has ever seen since the days of the apostles. 
He saw more clearly what the spirit of the Gospel 
would lead to than any other of the so-called re- 



40 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

formers. He not only saw that the Gospel would 
do away with war, slavery, oaths, but that it would 
also give freedom of conscience and establish 
religious liberty. In doing this, woman would be 
liberated from her spiritual bondage and would be 
given a part in preaching the Gospel of Christ." 
While at first their meetings for business were con- 
fined mostly to looking after the interests of the 
women of the Church, relieving their sufferings and 
having an oversight of the sick and those in prison, 
their influence soon began to grow. They held 
their meetings at the same time that men Friends 
held theirs; much business grew up in common and 
they appointed committees which worked jointly in 
carrying forward the work of the Church, until now 
they are recognized as being an important branch 
of the Church, and no one would think of giving 
them a minor position. The future historian will 
see the "hand of the Lord" in the establishing of 
the women's meetings, as George Fox believed. Not 
only have Friends been blessed, but the world has 
derived a benefit from this training which our 
women received. It was nothing unusual on boards 
of charity, hospital boards, boards of homes for the 
friendless and W. C. T. U. meetings, to hear the 
expression, *' You Quaker women have been trained 
and you know how to lead the meetings of these 
organizations better than we do." But above and 
beyond all that, the ministry of our women Friends 
has been so fruitful of results that the women of 
other churches have felt the call to preach the Gospel 
of Christ. Some have already entered the open door 
and others are waiting for the door to open. Sooner 
or later, all the churches will have to acknowledge 



OLD RANDOLPH MEETING 41 

that the Lord " pours out His spirit on the daughters 
as well as the sons. ' ' I trust that the women of our 
Church may never think lightly of their inheritance. 
The method of conducting our business meetings 
was different from that of any other organization. 
At times a subject would be discussed for some time, 
and then the clerk would read his minute, giving, as 
he believed, the ''sense of the meeting" or the 
"weight of the discussion." Sometimes this judg- 
ment would be on the side of the minority and 
against the majority who had spoken. Generally 
unity was expressed with the minute the clerk had 
read. Often it was felt that the clerk had been 
favored to go beyond the words that had been 
spoken and to reach a decision in harmony with the 
mind of Truth. At other times the clerk's minute 
would read something like this: "The way does not 
open to proceed in the matter. " In such cases the 
matter would be dropped or laid over for future 
consideration. This manner of settling the ques- 
tions that came before our meetings for business 
generally proved more satisfactory than the modem 
plan where voting has been substituted in the place 
of it, where spiritual matters are decided by numbers 
rather than by spiritual experience and mature 
judgment. After a pretty wide observation, I am 
inclined to the belief that the decisions thus arrived 
at were more harmonious and tended more to the 
unity of the Church than the voting system. There 
was no room for pulling and scheming, and it rarely 
left an)rthing bitter and unpleasant as the result. 
It made a Friends meeting for business different 
from that of any other religious organization. The 
late Charles Spurgeon, after attending London 



42 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

Yearly Meeting a few years before he died, remarked 
something like this: "It is the most solemn and 
deliberate body in the transaction of its business 
that I have ever been permitted to attend. Its 
decisions are arrived at more harmoniously and 
with less discussion and friction than I have ever 
witnessed in other religious organizations." It 
must be admitted that it required a spiritually- 
minded clerk, one who could sink himself out of 
sight and get the judgment of others rather than 
his own. A clerk in those days was more than a 
presiding officer. While I would not join the ranks 
of those who say, *'Why were former days better 
than these latter days ? ' ' for I do not think such is 
the case, yet there are some things in which I think 
we might take lessons from the Friends of seventy- 
five years ago, especially here in the West. Their 
example and influence in attending their meetings 
for worship and discipline, especially in the middle 
of the week, should be a lesson to us. The country 
was new, the roads were bad, at some times in the 
year almost impassable. Carriages were few, espe- 
cially in the new districts. Often the big farm 
wagon was used, and while the parents sat on 
chairs or on a board across the top of the wagon bed, 
the children were piled in straw thrown in the 
bottom of the bed and rolled about as the wheels 
ran over roots, logs, jolted over the corduroy bridges 
or sank in mud up to the axle. Others went on 
hoiseback, the wife riding behind the husband, if 
they did not have a horse apiece. Often the mother 
would be seen with a baby in her lap and an older 
child behind holding on to her. The father, with 
his share of the children, would be on another horse. 



OLD RANDOLPH MEETING 43 

They would ride up to the side of the *'uppenblock" 
and dismount. This block was so named, in familiar 
Western phrase. It was generally made by sawing 
off a log about three feet in diameter and about 
three and one-half feet long. It was then stood 
up on its end. Two steps were cut in the side so 
you could step up on top. Or a wide, thick board, 
ten or twelve feet long, would be placed with 
one end on top of the block and the other on the 
ground. Then pieces were nailed about one foot 
apart, and with a hand-rail or a fence on one side, 
the women and children could reach the top of the 
block, which enabled them to get on and off of the 
horse's back without much effort. 

My last mail has brought me a letter from J. D. 
M., a friend of mine, telling of his memory of those 
days. His word picture is so clear that I venture to 
insert a little of it here. "As thou knows, I am a 
birthright member of the Friends Church, and, 
although my parents were always considered liberal 
and progressive Friends, yet we boys were required 
to comb our hair straight down on the forehead and 
wear a plain coat, with straight stand-up collars and 
say 'thee' and *thou,' and to stop all kinds of work 
on Fourth-day and go to meeting. Sometimes 
mother would have one of us children on her lap 
on the horse, with two behind, and father wotdd 
have an equal number on his horse. This was our 
automobile in those days. We had to go one mile 
and a half to the old meeting-house. We were 
certainly taught to live up to the law in those early 
days, but I would not say that there were not good 
Christians in the Society of Friends; on the other 
hand, I believe that their Christianity would com- 



44 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

pare favorably with that of to-day. As we grew 
older and changed our environments and came in 
contact with the outside world and with other 
churches, we found ourselves constantly breaking 
the long-established rules of the Church. One of 
the first to break the rules was my sister, Martha, 
and her husband, Dr. R. H., who so far deviated 
from the good order of the Society of Friends as 
to attend the marriage of a relative, which was 
not solemnized in accordance with the Friends 
discipline. My sister and her husband refused to 
make the required acknowledgment and were dis- 
owned. They never returned to church fellowship 
with the Society of Friends, although they lived 
and died happy Christians, members of another 
denomination." 



Chapter V 

THE WORK OF MY FATHER AND OTHERS 
IN THE MINISTRY 

About the fifteenth year of my age, my father 
began to speak in our meetings in the line of the 
ministry. Abijah Jones sat at the head of our 
meetings, being a recorded minister. He frequently 
spoke, but not at length. His communications 
were in the way of exhortation and telling us how 
we should live. They were given in a monotone, 
with great solemnity, and always with a number of 
Scripttire quotations, mostly from the Psalms. 
I remember well the first time my father spoke in 
the ministry. It made a deep impression upon 
my mind. About the same time, three other 
Friends began to speak in our little meeting. Pru- 
dence Teague, Smith Gregg, who was a shoemaker in 
the neighborhood, and Daniel H. Hutchins. Their 
gifts differed. Daniel H. Hutchins' communica- 
tions were totally of a doctrinal nature, dwelling 
with emphasis upon the doctrine, of great import- 
ance to him, of the resurrection of the body, and, 
like theologians generally, he could not understand 
why everybody did not see the meaning of Scripture 
texts just as he did. This theme of his, the resur- 
rection of the body, he dwelt upon on nearly all 
occasions. He died in Baltimore, in 1867, where he 
had gone to attend the yearly meeting, from a 
hemorrhage from the lungs. On his deathbed, 

(45) 



46 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

between the flows of blood and while gasping for 
breath, he quoted to me Job 19: 26, "And though 
after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my 
flesh shall I see God." The language of the text 
in the new translation is different, but he knew only 
the old version. It was a comfort to him and he 
died in peace. 

The ministry of my father was different. He 
was given to speak to conditions of meetings and 
individuals. Often his communications were so 
direct that meetings were impressed and individuals 
were led to surrender their lives to God. During the 
last forty years many individuals have come to 
me and told me when and where they were converted 
under my father's ministry. From this time on 
he was actively engaged in church work, though he 
was not recorded a minister until early in 1850, 
in his thirty-ninth year. He was clerk of Mill Creek 
Monthly Meeting for six or seven years, and for 
several years was clerk of West Branch Quarterly 
Meeting. In the year 1848 he took a carriage and 
two horses and drove James Jones, a minister from 
China, Maine, and his brother, Elisha, who was his 
companion, through Indiana and Illinois and the 
State of Iowa, visiting the meetings in Iowa as far 
as the way opened. They also attended some meet- 
ings going and returning. They were gone six 
weeks. In 1849 he went, with Enos G. Pray as 
companion, to visit New York and New England 
Yearly Meetings and most of the meetings belong- 
ing to them. 

In the autumn of 1850 we left the old home 
at Randolph, Ohio, and moved to Marion, Grant 
Countv, Indiana, and became members of Mis- 



WORK IN THE MINISTRY 47 

sissinawa Monthly Meeting and Northern Quar- 
terly Meeting. In looking over the minutes of the 
monthly meeting I find that in 185 1 my father took 
out four minutes for religious service; in 1852, 
five; in 1853, three; in 1854, two. One of these 
last was to attend Baltimore and North Carolina 
Yearly Meetings, and the other to the meetings in 
Iowa. In 1855 he took out four minutes; in 
1856, four minutes, one to Canada and another to 
New York. About the same ratio was kept up 
until the year 1873, when the number of visits was 
not so great. In 1864 he attended Baltimore and 
Ohio Yearly Meetings. In 1865 he visited New 
England and New York Yearly Meetings, my 
mother going with him. In 1867 he made a gen- 
eral visit to North Carolina, my brother, Walter 
D. Jay, going with him; in 1869 a general visit to 
Canada; in 1870 a general visit to Iowa. In 1871 
he visited Baltimore and North Carolina Yearly 
Meetings again, my mother going with him. This 
little summary will serve to show his activity in 
religious visits. Sometimes he would return a 
minute and obtain another one for service the same 
day. In all his travels, he paid his expenses out of 
his own pocket, and at the same time paid his 
proportion to the meeting money at home, was 
liberal to the poor, and his home was always open 
to entertain Friends. He died Fifth month 15, 
1880. He had visited all the yearly meetings on 
this continent except one, most of them more than 
once, traveling more or less within the limits of 
all of them, and during his ministry visiting all 
the particular meetings belonging to them, except 
a very few of the most isolated and remote. He 



48 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

took a deep interest in those young in the ministry 
and bestowed on such much encouragement, wise 
counsel and loving care. Having a great memory 
for names and faces, he could recognize a large 
number of Friends and enjoyed meeting with them. 
The following incident shows his power of memory. 
A number of years ago he attended a weekday 
meeting in the State of New Hampshire. After 
meeting, as he was passing out, he reached out his 
hand and spoke to a Friend, and asked him his 
name. Fourteen years after that, at the close of a 
meeting in Illinois, he went up to this Friend, 
spoke to him and called him by name, and when the 
Friend asked him how he knew him, he said " I met 
thee in New Hampshire fourteen years ago, " and 
gave him the year, the month and the date, also the 
day of the week. 

I feel that it is due, in this connection, to speak 
a word in memory of my dear mother. She was a 
faithful wife and a loving mother, and freely and 
willingly bore her part in the work of the Church, 
never hindering my father from engaging in any 
work that he believed the Master called for at his 
hands, but bearing the burden of caring for the 
home during his absence and never murmuring, 
cheerfully giving him up and encouraging him 
always to be faithful to the Divine call. I have 
often been impressed with the belief that the one 
who remains at home and looks after the family and 
the daily cares of the home deserves the prayers 
and sympathy of the Church as much or more than 
the one who goes out into public service. Sometimes 
their work may not be appreciated as much as that 
of those who appear more in the public eye, but the 



WORK IN THE MINISTRY 49 

dear Master knows their peculiar trials, their 
worries, and their lonely days and nights, and in 
the end He will give the proper reward. On several 
occasions my mother accompanied my father on 
his journeys, at one time going with him to New 
York and New England, at another through a 
portion of the West and to North Carolina. She 
lived fourteen years after my father's death, making 
her home with my sister, Mary E. Baldwin, in 
Marion, Indiana. She died Eleventh month 15, 
1894, aged eighty-two years. When the end came, 
she was ready, saying at the beginning of her illness 
of two weeks' duration that she expected it would be 
her last. She often said, " I believe all will be well, " 
and in the last day and night she would say to those 
around her, " Be good. I want you all to do right, " 
and then passed away, saying," Jesus, precious Jesus!" 
I have thus dwelt a little while on the work of 
my parents, in order to show the young ministers 
of the present day something of the self-denial that 
the Friend minister of seventy-five years ago was 
called upon to make, not only in leaving his home 
and business, but also in bearing his own expenses. 
There may be a danger of the young people of the 
present day forgetting what the inheritance they 
now enjoy has cost others. I have been afraid some- 
times that some have spoken too lightly of the 
sacrifices made by the older Friends and dwelt too 
much upon the smaller sacrifices which they are 
called upon to make. Many others were just as 
faithful as my father in laboring to build up the 
Church that we now enjoy. May we be worthy sons 
of such ancestors and see that we do not lower the 
standard of genuine Quakerism, but labor to make 



50 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

it what the twentieth century demands that it 
shall be. 

Having thus dwelt upon my father's life, it seems 
but just to refer to two of his brothers, Thomas and 
William Jay, who were also called to the work of 
the ministry, both of them filling important places 
in the field that they occupied. Uncle Thomas was 
nearest my father in age, only one brother being 
between them, but as we labored together a few years 
later in North Carolina, I will leave what I have 
to say about him until I come to give an account 
of that labor, and briefly refer here to Uncle William 
Jay (1823-1881). He had a birthright membership 
in the Friends Church and remained a member 
imtil 1857, when he and his wife, Esther Furnace 
Jay, united with the Sugar Grove Christian Church 
(sometimes called the New Light Branch of the 
Christian Church), of which he remained a member 
until his death. He was chosen pastor of that con- 
gregation and held the position for twenty-one years, 
when he resigned. He received into this church 
230 members during his pastorate. During his 
ministry he preached about 1,000 funeral sermons, 
going long distances willingly under all circum- 
stances. He was for a long time prominently 
identified with the educational interests of Miami 
County, both as an educator and as a county 
examiner. He and his brother, Eli Jay, erected a 
school building in Frederick, in which they taught 
for years. He also had the principalship for a 
time of the West Milton schools. Perhaps I cannot 
better describe him and the love in which he was 
held than to give an extract from a sermon preached 
at his funeral by one who knew him well. 



WORK IN THE MINISTRY 51 

" Few men were more gentle than he. With the 
wisdom of the serpent was seen quite as conspicu- 
ously the gentleness of the lamb, and to his gentle- 
ness he added kindness, and this kindness was 
the very milk of his nature. Towards all men he 
extended this spirit of kindness as naturally as he 
breathed. One would almost think that his nature 
would not permit an unkind expression. Almost 
as well expect discord from skillful fingers as they 
sweep the well- tuned harp. But to gentleness and 
kindness he added sympathy as an equally natural 
expression. The tears of sympathy flowed for 
every suffering mortal that had need of his aid, and 
the word of sympathetic expression scarcely ever 
departed from his lips. But his nature, like the 
Gospel itself, was not full when stored with these 
graces, nor exhausted by their bestowment. These 
were supplemented with love. As naturally as the 
eyes wept, so naturally the heart loved. With love 
for Jesus, he loved all for whom Jesus died. As 
God loved the world before sending His Son, and 
thus before the world came to His Son, so Brother 
Jay's heart of love was melted into richest expres- 
sions toward those who were yet out of Christ and 
in rebellion against God. Never did a man more 
truly love the sinner. The love of the Father 
was the burden of his sermon, while rich, deep, 
yearning love was the burden of his own heart. 
Gentleness, kindness, sympathy and love were the 
elements of our brother's nature. I do not believe 
Brother Jay's heart ever compromised with evil 
from any fear of the foe. He fought for Jesus 
against every foe of righteousness and he never 
shrunk from the conflict. Why should the man 



52 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

who never feared the voice of death nor the out- 
stretched arms of the grave have fear of mortal 
man? And how effectively did he fight! The 
record of his chiirch shows that in the one con- 
gregation he received over 230 members. Myriads 
of hearts have been melted into submission to 
Christ by the persuasive music of his voice and 
logic of his argument. But when you think of his 
leadership, his weapons, his possession of the Holy 
Ghost, and his genial spirit, why wonder at the 
good results of his labors? And did ever man 
battle more disinterestedly than he? The gain 
that he chiefly sought was souls for his Master 
and salvation for the perishing. Refusal was not 
possible to one whose heart was all sympathy and 
love. The cold wind, the hot sun, the drenching 
rain, the midnight darkness — none of these could 
deter the man whose life was duty. His nature 
gave promise of old age, but to-day, at fifty-seven 
years, he sleeps in death. Few men have more 
fully and generously given their lives to the people. 
He sleeps in death, a martyr to his devotion to 
humanity." 



Chapter VI 

ORIGIN AND INFLUENCE OF WEST 
BRANCH QUARTERLY MEETING 

In my twentieth year my parents came to the 
conclusion that it would be right for them to leave 
the old home in Ohio and move to a new one, located 
at Marion, in Grant County, Indiana. Although 
young, I had become attached to the dear old 
Friends, whom I had been accustomed to see sitting 
in the galleries of the various meetings in the quarter. 
So I pause a little while to dwell upon the origin of 
West Branch Monthly and Quarterly Meetings and 
the influence they have had upon the Society of 
Friends in the Middle West, and especially upon 
Indiana Yearly Meeting, religiously and educa- 
tionally. The monthly meeting was opened at West 
Branch Meeting-house, two miles south from West 
Milton, Miami County, Ohio, First month 17, 1807. 
The West Branch Quarterly Meeting was opened 
Sixth month 13, 181 2, to be held alternately at West 
Branch, Ohio, and Richmond, Indiana. The char- 
ter members of West Branch Monthly Meeting all 
came from North Carolina Yearly Meeting, most of 
them from Bush River Quarterly Meeting, South 
Carolina. It appears that the line of descent of West 
Branch Monthly Meeting is from and through the 
following monthly meetings, established in the years 
given: Chester, 1681, and Concord, 1684, both in 
Delaware County, Pennsylvania; Newark, 1686, 

(53) 



54 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

and New Garden, 1718, both in Chester County, 
Pennsylvania; Nottingham, 1730, in Cecil County, 
Maryland; Hopewell, 1735, in Frederick County, 
Virginia; Westland, 1785, Fayette Coimty, Pennsyl- 
vania; Miami, 1803, Warren County, Ohio; West 
Branch, 1807, Miami County, Ohio. From the fore- 
going we might conclude that West Branch Monthly 
Meeting was a child of Philadelphia Yearly Meet- 
ing, but we learn that in 1790, the meetings then in 
western Pennsylvania and Virginia, which had 
belonged to Philadelphia, were transferred to the 
yearly meeting for Maryland, which was thereafter 
to be held at Baltimore, and which seems then to 
have taken the name of Baltimore Yearly Meeting. 
Since the Redstone (Pennsylvania) Meeting belonged 
to Baltimore Yearly Meeting in 1803, all the Friends 
meetings west of the Alleghenies are to be reckoned 
descended from Baltimore Yearly Meeting. The 
minutes of Miami Monthly Meeting show that from 
1803 to 1807 there were 306 certificates received 
from 16 monthly meetings belonging to North Caro- 
lina Yearly Meeting, conveying the rights of mem- 
bership of 1,418 members to that monthly meeting. 
I have been permitted, in the providence of my 
Heavenly Father, to visit within the limits of all 
these monthly meetings, except the one in Georgia, 
and, so far as I have been able to see or hear, the 
location of Friends in this fair Southland was desira- 
ble and pleasant, so far as outward comfort and ease 
were concerned. Their land was fairly productive 
and their climate almost ideal. Their communities 
were prosperous, their societies were harmonious and 
pleasant to live in, and there was loving fellowship 
amongst them as brothers of the same household of 



WEST BRANCH MEETING 55 

faith. But as the eighteenth century drew to a close, 
there was unrest amongst them and a general feeling 
that a change of location was desirable. Friends at 
first, in common with others, held slaves to some 
extent. There was all the time a protest against 
the practice as inconsistent with their Christian pro- 
fession. 

When they located in South Carolina and 
Georgia, slave-holding was still tolerated amongst 
the Friends, but during the years of their residence 
there the Society had taken a very advanced position 
on the subject. The change had been gradual and 
was the result of heartfelt conviction. It was laid 
upon their hearts and consciences that it was wrong 
to hold their fellow-men in bondage, and one by one 
they freed their slaves. This conviction soon became 
a concern to the whole Society. By loving though 
persistent persuasion, pressing the truth as it was 
apprehended upon the consciences and judgment 
of the membership, the Society of Friends as a body 
became united in forbidding the practice of holding 
slaves by its members. This pronounced stand, of 
course, put them in opposition to the prevailing sen- 
timent of the country, and they soon felt the disad- 
vantage to which their free labor would put them in 
competition with slave labor. This conviction of 
conscience in the line of duty and judgment as to 
economic considerations came to them as a divine 
voice to go out of that country to a land that would 
be shown them. That land was the new Northwest 
Territory, then opening to settlers, with its funda- 
mental ordinance, dedicating it forever to freedom 
and free institutions, and they were not disobedient 
to the vision opened before them, but came wiljh 



56 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

great rapidity, as a vanguard of the mighty host of 
free citizens that soon followed to lay the enduring 
foundation of great States and prosperous common- 
wealths. Among those who came are the names 
Ballinger, Brown, Coate, Coppock, Elleman, Evans, 
Furnas, Haskett, Hollings worth. Jay, Jenkins, Jones, 
Kelly, Macy, Mendenhall, Mote, Neal, Patty, 
Pearson, Pemberton, Teague, Thomas and many 
others whose names are now familiar among Friends 
throughout the West. 

We will now advance a little while, to their 
method of solving the educational question and its 
effect on others. In the first half of the last century 
many Friends found difficulty in providing for their 
children as good opportunities for acquiring educa- 
tion as they would gladly have given them. The 
public school system in Ohio was not developed then 
as now, and the subscription schools on which the 
Friends largely depended were inadequate in equip- 
ment and were often of necessity taught by teachers 
poorly qualified, both as to knowledge and method. 
My grandfather, Walter Denny Jay, though having 
but little school learning himself, was desirous that 
his children should have better opportunities than 
they had. His three youngest sons were now grown 
up and were beseeching him for better educational 
advantages. To meet this demand and to help other 
parents similarly situated, he hired and placed as 
teacher in a sc&ool-house near his home a young 
Friend of advanced education. This was the au- 
tumn of 1845. That winter, and also the following 
winter, he taught a four-months' school, ranking in 
grade of studies with academies and high schools of 
later day. Young people desirous of better educa- 



WEST BRANCH MEETING 57 

tion came into the school from other neighborhoods. 
The school was a success, a very beehive of activity 
in search of knowledge and an inspiration to sur- 
rounding neighborhoods to provide more advanced 
education among the youth. It was quite gratifying 
to my grandfather, whose wise thought and liberality 
started the school. One of his sons, Eli Jay, and 
Mahalah Pearson, who came from another neighbor- 
hood, were among those greatly profited by the 
advantages of these schools in the knowledge of the 
natural sciences and mathematics. In 1847 they 
both began teaching near their respective homes, in 
Miami County, Ohio, he in a settlement school, she 
in the public schools of the State. They were mar- 
ried Tenth month 24, 1849, and soon after began 
teaching together in a school of their own with a set 
purpose to make teaching their lifework. Two years 
of this school deepened their consciousness of their 
own need of better education for their intended work. 
They arranged to go to Oberlin College, in northern 
Ohio, then the only co-educational college in the 
country, and which then, as now, was eminently 
Christian in all its appointments and pervaded 
by a deeply religious atmosphere. At this day we 
are surprised at the opposition and denunciation they 
met with, both in private and in public, when their 
plan of going to Oberlin became known. A seem- 
ingly exercised minister had the shutters opened at 
the close of quarterly meeting and used the occasion 
to dwell upon the awfulness of what they were about 
to do and the terrible and everlasting consequences 
to which it might be expected to lead. His discourse 
led one Friend to say, at the close of the meeting, 
to another who was approving what had been said, 



58 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

" You talk as though you thought there was no God 
in OberHn. " But more of the Friends present 
seemed dazed by the minister's exercise and avoided 
the customary cordial shaking of hands at the close of 
the meeting. To such an extent did ignorance and 
narrow-mindedness prevail in that day, even in sup- 
posedly high places. The purpose of Eli and 
Mahalah Jay was not changed by this demonstra- 
tion. It rested upon too firm a conviction of what 
was right for them to do to be distiubed by such an 
incident, and they went to Oberlin the next week as 
they had planned. It was a comfort to them after 
leaving this scene of grim-faced men and tearful 
women, to find that their parents on both sides and 
their near relatives encoiuaged them to go. They 
had scarcely left the meeting-house groiuids in the 
carriage with Grandfather Jay when he said to them, 
" Children, I want you to know xhat I have no imity 
with such doings. You know I have not encouraged 
you in going to Oberlin, but now I want you to go. " 
As all college coiurses then required Latin and Greek, 
which they had not studied, it was necessary for them 
to give two years to preparatory work on the lan- 
guages, then four years in the regular college course. 
The first two years they took at Oberlin, the last 
four years at Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio, 
nearer their own home, a new co-educational college 
opened in the autumn of 1853 under the presidency 
of Horace ]\Iann, one of the most distinguished edu- 
cators of that day. They graduated from this col- 
lege in 1857, and in i860 received their second, or 
Master's, degree from their alma mater. Mahalah 
Jay taught a large class in preparatory Latin all 
through their senior year, and after their gradua- 



WEST BRANCH MEETING S9 

tion she continued for more than two years teaching 
in the preparatory department of Antioch College. 
Eli Jay taught in the public schools of Yellow 
Springs two years. In 1859 he took charge of a 
school near Lafayette, Indiana, which was under the 
care of the Friends of Greenfield Monthly Meeting, 
where he taught one year. The next two years they 
both taught at Spiceland, Henry County, Indiana. 
They also taught at Tippecanoe City, Miami County, 
Ohio. In the summer of 1864 they were asked to 
take places at Earlham College, and, as events 
turned, Richmond, Indiana, has been their home 
ever since. Their connection with Earlham College, 
which began Tenth month, 1864, closed, so far as 
regular work there was concerned, in Sixth month, 
1884. In these twenty years they were out of the 
college but six years. One of these years was spent 
in the Indian work near Fort Sill, Indian Territory 
(now Lawton, State of Oklahoma) , and two years in 
teaching at Rich Square, near Lewisville, Henry 
County, Indiana. In their years as officers and 
teachers at Earlham College, Eli Jay was employed 
in various positions, first as Governor, having charge 
of the boys ; then as teacher of mathematics, natural 
science and history in the Preparatory Department. 
In 1874-75 he was the acting president of the col- 
lege in the absence of the president, Joseph Moore, 
during the latter' s visit to the Hawaiian Islands. 
The last five years he was Professor of Mathematics, 
Physics and Astronomy in the College Department. 
Mahalah Jay's work was principally in the Prepara- 
tory Department of the school, teaching Latin and 
English the greater part of the time. She was also 
Principal of the Preparatory Department, which 



6o AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JA\ 

then embraced more than two-thirds of all the stu- 
dents attending the school. Since 1884 they have 
not been engaged in much regular teaching, but have 
given a good deal of private instruction to students 
who have mostly come to their home to recite. Alto- 
gether, they have touched and aided in their prepara- 
tion for life several thousands of the generation of 
men and women who are now on the active stage of 
life. These years of semi-retirement have been filled 
with plenty of work in various lines, preventing the 
rust of inactivity, and now, having both passed their 
fourscore years, and having lived together nearly 
threescore years, with thankful hearts that they 
have been permitted some little part in the world's 
work, they look back with much interest upon what 
they have seen and known and been a part of in the 
past, and forward with good hope of what the future 
may yet tmfold to them, both here and hereafter. 
This instance that I have given, resulting from the 
school in the limits of West Branch Quarterly Meet- 
ing, might be duplicated to some extent in the lives of 
others who received their inspiration and thirst for 
knowledge in that school and others in the limits of 
that quarterly meeting. Among these I will mention 
the late Dr. Joseph W. Jay, who taught for a nimiber 
of years both in Ohio and Indiana, and was an instru- 
ment of great blessing to many in various places, 
closing a long and useful life at the age of eighty- 
three. It is but just for me to say that I first caught 
my desire for education from the influence of these 
schools and the spirit created by them. 

One more incident will show that this educational 
and missionary spirit was not confined to the young 
alone. Among the men of worth in West Branch 



WEST BRANCH MEETING 6i 

Quarterly Meeting, and a charter member of it, was 
Moses Pearson. Born in South Carolina, he came 
when a child to Ohio, in the emigration of Friends 
from the South in the early years of the last century, 
and grew up under the vigorous training and general 
efficiency of those pioneer times. Brought up a 
farmer on a farm which his hands had helped to win 
from the primeval forest, a carpenter by apprentice- 
ship to the trade, at home with odd jobs on the black- 
smith's anvil or shoemaker's bench, with knowledge 
of medicine sufficient for the ordinary needs of his 
family, he could help himself when there were no 
others at hand to help him. He could make a table 
or a house, could build a flat boat on the river near 
his home and navigate it loaded with the produce 
of neighboring farms to markets on the lower Mis- 
sissippi. He was a loyal Friend, active in the work 
of the church, but quiet and firm. He was easily 
chosen when a man was wanted to open up work 
among the Indians in the then ''Far West." The 
Shawnee Indians, upon whom the Friends had be- 
stowed great labor and care while they were resid- 
ing in Ohio, were removed by the Government, in 
1832 and 1833, to a reservation in what was then 
called Missouri Territory, at that time a wild, unset- 
tled region, but now the eastern part of the State of 
Kansas. These Indians sent word to their old 
friends, the Quakers, of Indiana Yearly Meeting, 
that they wanted them to come to their new homes 
and again live among them and teach them. The 
yearly meeting sent a deputation to investigate 
the situation. Its report to the yearly meeting in 
1836 was favorable to taking up the work again 
among these Indians, and they had arranged for the 



62 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

Indians to biiild a mission-house. ■\Ioses and Sarah 
Pearson were appointed superintendents of the work. 
They, with their family of five children and another 
man for school-teacher and a woman for seamstress, 
reached the mission field by five weeks' travel in a 
covered wagon in 1837. They opened up what 
would now be called an industrial mission. They 
engaged for two years' service, but their stay was 
lengthened to more than three years. Their assist- 
ants went for one year or less time. The equipment 
they found there was an imfinished two-room log 
house, one and one-half stories high, built near a good 
spring, in the edge of a fertile but unbroken prairie. 
In their three years' stay, a farm of more than 100 
acres was enclosed and the larger part of it put imder 
cultivation. Two buildings, a school-house and a 
bam, w^ere erected, and an orchard of fruit trees 
planted. The farm was looked upon by the Indians 
and also by some of the white people on the Mis- 
souri border as a model for them. The first winter, 
the school-house having been made ready, 18 Indian 
children were taken in, clothes were made for them, 
and they were dressed like white children. They 
were boarded in the family and were taught in the 
school. The older boys and girls were trained to 
assist with the work on the farm and in the house, 
and were some help, but Sarah Pearson's physical 
strength, as well as ingenuity, were severely taxed 
to provide for so large a family with so little room 
and help. The bo^^s slept in the school-house, tmder 
the care of the teacher, on a primitive kind of folding 
bed of home manufacture, that folded up against 
the wall of the school-house in the daytime. The 
next two years only 12 or 15 regular boarders were 



WEST BRANCH MEETING 63 

taken in. In religious work, meetings for worship 
were held twice a week, which the children attended, 
and to which the adult Indians were invited and 
sometimes came. The Scriptures were read daily in 
the family and school and often explained. When 
the children learned to read and had acquired some 
knowledge of English, they had a daily lesson in the 
New Testament as part of their school work. Many 
Friends had opposed, as a wild, unwise move, the 
going of Moses and Sarah Pearson into this service, 
but at the end of the time all gave them a cordial 
welcome home. The incident had been helpful, not 
only to the Shawnees, but to the home Friends, in 
widening their outlook on life and its possibilities 
and duties, and West Branch Quarterly Meeting 
had the honor of furnishing the first missionary 
workers of Friends among the Indians in the far 
West. This work was continued by Indiana Yearly 
Meeting for a number of years with varying suc- 
cess, and when the time arrived for closing up the 
work in that locality, the property was sold and the 
proceeds were used to establish what is now known 
as the Shawnee Fund, the income from which is now 
used by the Associated Executive Committee on 
Indian Affairs in carrying on the work among the 
Indians at the present day. So others labored, and 
we have entered into their labors. 



Chapter VII 

MOVING TO INDIANA 

It was in the summer of 1850 that we left West 
Branch. The pubHc sale being over and the time 
having arrived for moving to our new home in 
Indiana, we, like other movers in those days, 
started with wagons loaded with household goods 
and such other things as we wished to take with us, 
while the younger members of the family walked 
and drove the cattle. At night it was customary 
to camp out, which was done by building a fire by 
the roadside, cooking the meal, and then lying down 
to sleep by the fire upon straw and bedding, while 
the older members of the company and the women 
and children would sleep in the wagons, which were 
covered. When we remember the great emigr-ation 
of Friends from the South to Ohio and Indiana, 
and then later from those States west to Illinois, 
Iowa, Kansas, and to the far West, it gives an 
added interest to the wagons used for this purpose. 
The wagon bed was built in such a shape that it 
turned up at the fore end and also at the hind end. 
It had wooden bows bent over the bed in such a 
manner that the ends of the bows ran into iron 
staples on each side of the bed. Over these bows 
was drawn a cover, made of cotton or linen canvas, 
which would turn the rain and in some degree keep 
out the storm. Then, with two horses or four 
horses, or sometimes six horses, hitched to the wagon, 

(64) 



MOVING TO INDIANA 65 

the driver would sit on the saddle horse and drive 
the lead horses by a single line, held in his hand. 
Fifty or seventy-five years ago it was a familiar sight 
to see these emigrant wagons going along the 
main roads leading westward. Sometimes in the 
autumn they were very numerous, especially along 
the National Road, which was laid out by the 
Federal Government to run from Cumberland, Md., 
directly across the mountains west to St. Louis, 
Mo. The act of Congress authorizing the laying 
out and making of this road was passed by Congress 
and approved by Thomas Jefferson, March 29, 1806. 
Upon the admission of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and 
Missouri to the Union, a certain revenue from the 
sale of land was to be set apart for the making of 
roads and canals within their limits. Although thus 
early provided for, the National Road was not 
finished through Indiana until about 1830 and 1831, 
and has never been finished all the way to St. Louis, 
but, as some one has said, " was lost in the prairies of 
Illinois. " This was a great thoroughfare for movers 
going West, and it is said that often in the autumn 
season such moving companies were almost always 
in sight. These wagons, in the West, were some- 
times called " prairie schooners. " In this way most 
of our forefathers came over the mountains and 
through the wilderness to Ohio and Indiana, some- 
times swimming their horses and wagons through 
the rivers and cutting their way through the forest. 
At night, they would have their campfires burning 
to keep the wild animals away from them. When 
the spirit later came upon our fathers to move west- 
ward, they took the same means to remove their 
families, and while there was not so much forest to 



66 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

pass through, yet there were broad prairies, with 
tall grass, so that the danger of prairie fires had to 
be guarded against, for these fires sometimes swept 
over the plains with great rapidity. This danger 
could be overcome by burning over a piece of ground, 
driving into the center of it, and making the camp 
there, where the grass had been burned. Our mov- 
ing was more modem and not of so great length ; we 
camped out only three nights. We reached our new 
home and were greeted with a pleasant reception from 
the Friends of Mississinawa Monthly Meeting. It 
was a good-sized meeting, with a great many young 
people. It was established in 1833 and belonged 
to Northern Quarterly Meeting, which was settled 
mostly by Friends from the "Old North State," as 
North Carolina was sometimes called. This quar- 
terly meeting was set off from New Garden Quarter 
in Third month, 1841. At that time, Northern 
Quarterly Meeting was held alternately at Back 
Creek and Mississinawa, these two meetings receiv- 
ing their names respectively from a stream called 
Back Creek and a river called Mississinawa. Back 
Creek Monthly Meeting was established in 1838. 
The quarterly meeting embraced all the territory 
that is now included in the limits of Fairmoimt, 
Marion, Wabash and Vandalia Quarterly Meetings. 
It was a large quarter and the meetings were largely 
attended. On First-day of quarterly meeting great 
crowds came from far and near. Sometimes there 
were so many that it was necessary to have an over- 
flow meeting in the grove. It was at Back Creek, 
within the limits of this quarterly meeting, that 
one of the first "general meetings" was held, by a 
committee from Indiana Yearly Meeting, in 1869. 



MOVING TO INDIANA 67 

I shall have more to say in regard to this general 
meeting work further on. 

In Boarding Schools and College 

My life was spent on the farm, similarly to that 
of other young men of that day, and in taking part 
in the social and literary entertainments of the 
young people of the neighborhood until the autumn 
of 185 1, when my father took my brother, Milton 
Jay, and myself to Friends Boarding School, Rich- 
mond, Ind. About one week after reaching there 
I broke my leg while playing football. I was carried 
to the nursery and lay there for nearly four weeks, 
and then went around on crutches and continued 
my studies during the term, which closed in the 
spring of 1852. 

This institution has had such an important in- 
fluence on the history of our Society in the Middle 
West, indeed, throughout the Church in the great 
Northwest, that it may be right to dwell a little on 
the struggle Friends went through to secure it. It 
is a long history. Friends were poor and it required 
great self-denial on their part to make it a success. 
In reviewing its origin, I am reminded of a lecture 
which I heard delivered in Washington, a few years 
ago, by an old German who was connected with 
the Educational Bureau of our Government. His 
subject was, ''Educational Laws of the World." 
He reviewed hastily the laws of the various civilized 
nations of the earth, pointing out their good and 
bad features. Finally, he came to the United 
States, and took one State after another. He had a 
map of each State, intending to show by the color 
of the map the grade of the school laws. The 



68 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

lighter the map was, the better the educational 
system. The last map to be placed upon the wall 
was that of Indiana. I shall not attempt to give 
all of his exact words, but I think I can give a 
correct rendering of what he said and quote some 
of his own words. "According to the map of 
Indiana, ladies and gentlemen," he said, "there is 
a State that has the best educational system in 
the Union, yes, the best there is in the world, and 
the Quakers are to blame for it. Of their number, 
the Hon. Barnabas C. Hobbs had more to do with 
it than any other one man." He then spoke of 
his work as superintendent of public instruction and 
his connection with the State Normal School and 
with other educational work, and closed by saying 
that he was not appreciated by the State nor by his 
own chiurch while he lived. After saying the above, 
he went on to give an account of Friends leaving 
the South and why they left; told how they came 
to Indiana, settled in the woods, cleared a little 
patch of groimd, built a log cabin, and then selected 
a suitable location and built a log church. "No; 
excuse me, I do not mean church. They built a 
meeting-house. " "Then, in a few years they united 
and built a monthly meeting school-house, and their 
children went to school under religious teachers; 
on Fourth-day or Fifth-day they went to 'mid- 
week meeting, ' and learned to worship with their 
parents. The Quakers have the true idea of edu- 
cation. They educated the body, intellect and heart 
together, which is the true system of education, for if 
you educate the intellect alone, you have a cold 
and formal Christian, or if you cultivate the heart 
and emotions alone, you have a fanatic, with his 



MOVING TO INDIANA 69 

hobbies. Quakers solved this problem by training 
their children to manual labor on the farm, while 
their minds were trained in the school-room, and 
their spiritual training was promoted in their meet- 
ings, where they worshiped with their parents and 
were taught to listen to the voice of the Spirit and 
obey His commands," 

This is what our parents meant when they spoke 
of a ** guarded religious education." It was this 
desire to give them such a training that was at the 
bottom of the monthly meeting schools and, as their 
children grew older and wanted a more advanced 
education, caused the yearly meeting to think of a 
central boarding school at Richmond, Indiana. But 
more about the institution and some of the men and 
women connected with its history later on, when I 
tell of how I became connected with it in a different 
capacity than I was in 1852, when a student. 

Upon going home in the spring, I had such a 
strong desire to continue my studies that my father 
listened to my entreaty and permitted me to go to 
a new school that had just been established the year 
before, under the control of Greenfield Monthly 
Meeting, located some nine miles southwest of La- 
fayette, Indiana. Arrangements being completed, I 
started, with my trunk, one spring morning, with 
two other passengers, in the hack running from 
Marion to Wabash, twenty miles distant. The 
"corduroy bridges," which were made by cutting 
down trees and saplings, cutting off logs twelve or 
fourteen feet long and laying them crossways in 
the mud holes, were floating in some places, on ac- 
count of the water, and in other places the wheels 
of the hack would sink in the mud up to the axles. 



70 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

Our conveyance mired down nine times during the 
day, and we had to get out, secure rails from the 
fences or cut poles from the woods, get our pry 
under the wheels and help them up, while the 
driver would whip the poor horses and make them 
pull the hack out. Then we would get in and ride 
imtil it dropped again, when a similar scene would 
take place. We passengers walked about half the 
way in the mud, helped to get the wheels out of 
the mud holes for a change, and paid $2 for the 
privilege of being transported to Wabash. You can 
now go on an interurban car for 50 cents, making 
the journey in fifty minutes. I went over the road 
a few weeks ago and tried to find the places where 
the mud holes were, but there is a gravel road all 
the way now. The young men of the present day 
will never know the healthy pleasure of walking 
and carrying a rail to help out of a mud hole. 
They will have to ride in fine cars and breathe the 
microbes that they tell us have come into otir 
modem society. 

We reached Wabash between nine and ten at 
night, tired, muddy and hungry, but, after washing 
and eating a hearty supper, I was ready for the 
canal packet boat that came along about midnight 
on its way to Lafayette, eighty miles farther down 
the Wabash River. Sleep was sweet that night, 
and the next night I landed, a stranger, in Lafayette, 
where I stayed until morning. I then started out 
for a nine-mile walk over the Wea Plains. It was 
my first introduction to prairie scenes. The morning 
was pleasant, and when I came to the Wea stream 
I pulled off my shoes and stockings and waded 
through. I had the name of Buddell Sleeper, at 



MOVING TO INDIANA 71 

whose home I was to board and whose nephew and 
niece I had become acquainted with the winter 
before at the boarding school. Stopping to inquire 
the way, I found the home of Dr. Turner Welch, 
who knew my parents well and remembered me 
when I was a child. I remained there for dinner, 
then walked on to the place I had started for, and 
soon reached the home where I was to spend the 
next nine months, and became acquainted with the 
family, the eldest daughter of which was to walk 
with me nearly forty-five years as my wife. On 
the following Second-day morning the school opened, 
with something like a hundred pupils. The principal 
teacher was Moses C. Stevens, a young man of 
twenty-five from Providence, Rhode Island, who 
had taught in the Friends boarding school of that 
city. He had now come West to teach. We were 
all strangers to him and he to us. It was a time of 
sizing up on both sides. After we had taken our 
seats, he read the Ninetieth Psalm, and, after a time 
of silence, he rose and made a few remarks, closing 
his speech by laying down his first rule, which was, 
"I expect you all to behave yourselves." It was 
short, but comprehensive. We understood it. 

A few words about this man who had come out 
to the West to engage in teaching and who was to 
play an important part in helping to mould the 
educational spirit among Friends and others in 
Indiana. He taught several years at Farmers' 
Institute and made a name for himself. After that 
he was at Green Mount Boarding School for some 
time. This institution was located near Richmond 
and was under the control of the Hicksite branch 
of the Church. After several years it went down, 



72 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

and is^now the site of an orphans ' home, irnder the 
care of the Lutheran Church, and is called the Wemle 
Orphans' Home. After this, he was a professor of 
mathematics at Earlham College for a number of 
years, but he left his mark on that institution even 
more when afterwards he became one of the trustees, 
appointed by Western Yearly Meeting, to manage 
the institution. Perhaps his greatest work was done 
as professor of mathematics at Purdue University, 
located at Lafayette, Indiana, a State institution, 
where he remained until age reminded him that the 
time had come to rest. He then retired to a com- 
fortable home near the institution, where he and his 
lovely wife are spending the evening time of life, ex- 
cept when, to avoid the cold weather, they are in 
their Southern home, Tallahassee, Florida. He has 
impressed his life upon many. It must be a comfort 
now, when he has passed his fourscore years, to look 
upon the lives of so many whom he has taught and 
sent out into the world to do their work. 

Farmers' Institute was an academy that was 
built by the Friends of Greenfield Monthly Meeting, 
in order that they might have their children educated 
at home. It was located in a grove between two 
prairies, one Wea Plain, and the other, Shawnee 
Prairie, not far from the meeting-house. They 
erected a boarding house that would accommodate 
about thirty boarders. There was a good literary 
society connected with it, in which a number of 
the parents took an active part. The spirit of 
education was felt throughout the surroimding com- 
munity, and it became the center of a widespread 
influence for good, a number of Friends moving into 
that neighborhood to educate their children. 



MOVING TO INDIANA 73 

At the close of the summer term, I went home, 
helped through the harvest and sowing wheat in 
the autumn, and returned at the opening of the 
winter term. The following spring I returned home, 
helped in the sugar camp while we were making 
molasses and sugar, and then went on to Antioch 
College, in Ohio, where Uncle Eli and Aunt Mahalah 
Jay had offered me a home with them while I 
attended the college. This institution was at that 
time under the presidency of Horace Mann. 



Chapter VIII 

EARLY MARRIED LIFE 

At the close of the three months ' term at Antioch 
College I retumed home and made arrangements 
for my marriage to Martha Sleeper, in the autumn, 
which took place at Greenfield I\Ieeting House, Ninth 
month '20, 1854, before a very large concourse 
of people. The house could not hold them all. 
There had not been a Friends wedding there in 
ten years, and it was a great curiosity. Perhaps 
there was more excitement on the part of the con- 
gregation than solemnity. There were two couples 
of us to be married at the same time. My wife 
had a double first cousin who had been brought up 
by her parents in the same home, and they were 
just like sisters. Her name was Chloe A. Sleeper. 
She was to marry Pleasant A. Winston. When 
the time came, the dear old Friend at the head of 
the meeting announced that the time had come for 
us to proceed to perform the ceremony. We all 
rose at the same time. I spoke first. Taking 
Martha Sleeper by the hand, I said: *'In the 
presence of the Lord and before this company, I 
take thee, Martha Ann Sleeper, to be my wife, 
promising, with Divine assistance, to be imto thee 
a loving and faithful husband until death shall 
separate us." Then she followed, repeating the 
same, putting my name in the place of hers and 
"husband" in place of "wife," and "wife" in the 

(74) 




MARTHA A. JAY. 



EARLY MARRIED LIFE 75 

place of "husband.' ' Then, after the other two had 
said the same, we all sat down, and the marriage 
certificate was read, and the meeting was dismissed. 
For the information of my young friends, I may 
say that we had to *'pass meeting." That is, we 
had to be present at the monthly meeting before 
the day of the marriage, when I went into the 
women's meeting, the messenger going before and 
opening the door. There I found my intended wife, 
sitting on the "lower facing seat." I sat down by 
her, and the clerk read the minute made at the 
last monthly meeting regarding our intention of 
marriage. Then we arose, took each other by the 
hand, and I said: "Friends, we continue our inten- 
tion of marriage with each other. ' ' She then said 
the same thing. Then the messenger opened the 
door, and we walked into the men's meeting, sat 
down on "the facing seat," and the minute of our 
intention of marriage was read there. Again we 
stood up and, taking each other by the hand, de- 
clared that we continued our intention of marriage, 
and the clerk read the minute liberating us to pro- 
ceed, and appointed a committee to attend the 
marriage and the marriage entertainment and see 
that good order was preserved and that the marriage 
certificate was recorded. Some will say, "why so 
much ceremony and care?" I am inclined to the 
opinion that if more care were taken to-day, on the 
part of parents and children, in approaching the 
subject of marriage, there might be fewer unhappy 
homes, and our country would not be disgraced by so 
many divorces. Indeed, every lover of home and 
country must mourn over the unhappy homes and 
the frequency of divorces as we read of them in 



76 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

our daily papers. I wotild appeal to my young 
friends to approach marriage as a divine institution, 
one of the most solemn, and yet one of the happiest, 
transactions of life if sanctioned by God. Young 
men and women, do not look upon courtship as a 
trifling matter. Approach it prayerfully. Never 
trifle with each other's affections. If ever honest, 
be so while you are seeking each other's love and 
affection. You cannot afford to deceive each other. 
When a boy, I never remember hearing of a separa- 
tion where Friends had been married in meeting. 

Teaching School 

The following day we started in carriages to my 
home, some ninety miles through the country, reached 
there on the second day, a little after noon, spent 
a few days, and then went on to Indiana Yearly 
Meeting, which was large and interesting. We 
remained in my parents' home that winter, and as 
my wife had taught school for two years, the 
Friends asked us to teach the school at Mississinawa. 
We agreed. We had over a hundred on the roll, 
and an interesting and satisfactory term. It was 
understood that my wife was a good teacher, and 
I tried not to spoil her reputation, but to learn all 
that I could about teaching and other things that 
teachers generally learn when they enter upon that 
profession. As spring came on and our school 
closed, I felt it would be right to move down in 
the neighborhood of Greenfield Monthly Meeting. 
So I went down on horseback, found a small farm, 
and returning, as soon as the roads were passable, 
we loaded our household goods in a wagon and 
started for our new home, which caused one of 



EARLY MARRIED LIFE 77 

our old friends, by the name of Eli Overman, to 
quote the text of Scripture, with an addition, "For 
this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, 
and cleave unto his wife and wife's people." 

The Home in Greenfield Monthly Meeting 

The first of Fourth month, 1855, we landed on 
what was called "The High Gap," one mile from 
the meeting-house and the same distance from the 
school-house, where I had spent nine pleasant 
months at school, and two miles from my wife's 
old home. We were between the meeting-house and 
the railway station, which fact opened the way for 
us to have many visitors coming and going. Here 
we were to live for nearly fifteen years. Here our 
five children were born, and here the two older 
ones died. The second son, Charles A., died when 
fifteen months of age, Rhoda E., when little over 
six years of age. It may be right for me to say a 
little in regard to Rhoda. She was going to school. 
One day she said to her mother, "When I die, I 
want you to bury me by the side of little Charlie. " 
Her mother made the promise, and soon afterwards 
she went over to the home of Jeremiah A. Grennell, 
who lived a few rods from our house, and told him 
that she was going to die and be buried by her little 
brother. He took her on his lap and talked with 
her a few minutes about dying, and after she left, 
he told his wife that Rhoda 's father and mother 
might just as well give her up, as she was not going 
to live. She came to me one day and told me the 
same thing. Looking out of the window upon the 
snow, I asked her if she would not be afraid to die 
and be put down in the ground, under the snow. 



78 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

She looked at me with a smile, and said : *' Why, no, 
father! Jesus will not let me lie in the grave. He 
will take me home to be with little Brother Charlie 
in heaven, and there we will wait for thee and 
mother to come." Perhaps a week after this, one 
morning she came out of her bedroom and said, 
" Father, I am sick. I do not want any breakfast. " 
I went to the table with the rest of the family, but 
did not feel like eating much. I went back into 
the room, and when I asked her how she was, she 
said, "I am growing worse," and then added, with 
a faint smile, "I am not afraid to die." The next 
morning she passed away to her eternal home. 

We were now settled down to the life of farmers 
in the midst of a prosperous farming community, 
where a man's success was too much judged by the 
money he made and the number of acres of land 
he owned. Greenfield Monthly Meeting, to which 
we belonged, was composed of two preparative 
meetings, Flint Creek and Pine Creek, about twelve 
miles apart. Pine Creek was on the west side of 
the Wabash River. The monthly meeting was set 
off from Sugar River Monthly Meeting and Western 
Quarterly Meeting, now Bloomingdale Quarterly 
Meeting. But at the time we moved there, it 
belonged to Concord Quarterly Meeting, held alter- 
nately at Honey Creek and Sugar Plain, the former 
now New London and the latter Thomtown Quar- 
terly Meeting. It was about twenty miles from any 
other meeting. Pine Creek having been laid down. 
There was no minister or elder belonging to it. 
Neither had there been for some twelve or fifteen 
years. There were few who spoke in meeting 
except Enoch Moon. His commimications were 



EARLY MARRIED LIFE 79 

largely made up of Scripture quotations. Occa- 
sionally some one else spoke. Vocal prayer was 
rarely, if ever, heard, unless some traveling minister 
came along, which was not very often. Yet, the 
meeting was kept up and well attended by the 
members and by others living in the neighbor- 
hood. The Farmers' Institute Academy was a 
source of strength in the community, and a number 
moved into its limits to educate their children. 

The Bible School and Religous Awakening 

We appointed a committee each spring to open 
and keep up a First-day school during the warm 
weather, but when the frost came it went into 
winter quarters, until the next spring, and the 
committee would report that it had been "held to 
good satisfaction." In the spring, when the buds 
were opening, it would be resurrected again. One 
autumn, after we had been there three or four years, 
several of the young Friends came to me after the 
meeting. They had decided to discontinue the 
school, and said if I would take charge of a class, 
they would come all winter. Being one of the 
trustees of the school, I arranged for a room in the 
school building, and we met every First-day after- 
noon. The class averaged about twenty, and has 
never been laid down since. On the other hand, a 
few years later the whole school adopted the plan of 
continuing the entire year. It is pleasant to look 
back to the work of that winter. A number of 
the members of that class have been useful in church 
work. The majority have finished their race on 
earth. Several years afterwards a young woman, 
who had been a member of that class, just before 



8o AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

she died requested her sister to write to me that 
she thanked God for that class, because while a 
member of it she gave her heart to God. It was 
while working with those yoiing people that I first 
offered vocal prayer in public. I felt the need of it. 
Sometimes the spirit of prayer would come upon 
us, and several of the members of the class would 
engage in prayer. This revival influence was finally 
felt in the academy, and several of the young people 
at times were heard in prayer during the morning 
devotions at the opening of the school. One evening, 
after dismissing the class, while walking home I 
noticed one of the youngest members of the class, 
a girl of foiuteen or fifteen years of age, weeping 
as we walked along. I queried of her what the 
matter was. After some persuasion, she said, in a 
broken voice, that they did not have family worship 
in their home, and added, "I feel like I ought to 
ask father to let me read the Bible to-night and 
pray in the family. " Dear child! The burden was 
great. I encoiuraged her to be faithful, and when 
parting from her at the gate I told her I would 
pray for her that night. The next morning the 
father, who was working for me, came into the bam 
and, with deep emotion, told how his child had 
come to him and asked if she might read the Bible 
to the family. He said: "I called all the family, 
mother and six children, around the table and we 
sat there. She took the Bible and read a few verses, 
but the tears so blinded her that she could not see 
how to read. But she could pray, and as she knelt, 
we all knelt and wept together." It was only a 
few weeks until the whole family were praying 
Christians. It was a lovely Christian home to visit. 



EARLY MARRIED LIFE 8i 

Three or four years after this, as the sun was setting 
across the Western prairie, that mother lay dying. 
She looked up into the face of this daughter and in 
a feeble voice whispered, "Thank God for a praying 
child," and passed away. 

My own Christian life was growing during this 
time, and the feeling was so pronounced among the 
young that in several instances when a company 
was gathered for social visiting, a chapter would 
be read and a season of prayer would close the 
visiting. I remember several of these occasions at 
our house, when the students came in to eat apples, 
crack nuts, and have a pleasant time socially, and 
when we would close with a prayer meeting. Indeed, 
in looking back, I am impressed with the belief 
that often this was one of the motives that influenced 
those young people to come. Thus, in a quiet way, 
in this little Quaker community out by itself on 
the prairie, during the years 1859 and i860, began 
this wave of revival work that a few years later 
began to spread abroad over our branch of the 
Church in various places, of which I have more to 
state in the chapters on the revival work in 
our Church. Other localities have claimed that the 
movement was born in their midst and that some 
.special person was the instrument in bringing it 
about. It may have been that the sign of the "going 
in the tops of the mulberry trees" may have been 
first heard by those who have never said much about 
it. The Master will know Y/here to bestow the 
crown. 



Chapter IX 
BEGINNINGS IN THE MINISTRY 

During the year 1859, in our silent meeting on 
First-day morning, I rose and spoke a few words in 
the way of the ministry. It was a memorable day to 
me. It had an effect on the congregation. It made 
me a "speckled bird" from that time forward, for 
in those days, if any one spoke in meeting it was 
expected that he would become a minister, for there 
was no other door open whereby he might exercise 
his religious gifts. There was no Home Mission, no 
Foreign Mission, no Christian Endeavor, and but 
little Bible-school work. This fact may have been 
the reason why some who would have been good 
workers in these fields of religious labor were 
recorded ministers when they had never had the call 
nor had a gift in that line, and now it may happen 
that some who are called to the ministry may try to 
substitute missionary or some other religious work 
in the place of the ministry. Therefore they do not 
succeed. The gifts and callings of God are without 
repentance. 

It was at the monthly meeting held Fourth month 
16, 1859, that a removal certificate was received 
from Blue River Monthly Meeting held in Wash- 
ington County, Indiana, conveying the right of mem- 
bership of Jeremiah A. Grinnell, a minister, and 
that of his wife, Martha Grinnell, and their seven 
children. Their coming was a great blessing to our 

(82) 



BEGINNINGS IN THE MINISTRY 83 

meeting. He was a man twenty-five years ahead of 
his time. He "understood the signs of the times,' ' 
and knew what Israel ought to do, and withal he 
had the wisdom of the serpent and the harmlessness 
of the dove. He was a reformer without being a 
revolutionist. Different from some of our revival- 
ists, who walk rough-shod over the feelings of those 
who differ from them, or who do not change as fast 
as they think they should, he produced a great 
change in our meeting without hurting the' feelings 
of those who differed from him. In two years all 
were ready to go with him as he led the way. He 
knew how to bring out and develop the gifts of the 
young people better than any person I ever knew 
in all of my wide acquaintance. He knew how to 
get work out of others. At one time he proposed 
that a committee be appointed to visit the families of 
our monthly meeting. He met with us and helped 
make out the program. It was read in our First-day 
morning meeting so all Friends would be at home 
at the proper hour. We were to meet at a certain 
house. When we met he sent word that he would 
not be there, but that we must go ahead. Every 
member of the committee was heard in prayer and 
testimony before we got through, and three of the 
number have since been recorded ministers of the 
gospel. He knew how to encourage and also how to 
direct in a loving manner. One First-day morning, 
as I sat under a great burden, a text came to my 
mind and I rose and commenced, as I believed, under 
the leading of the Spirit. After a little I got 
warmed up and spoke vigorously, condemning some 
severely indeed, judging and finding fault with the 
way they were doing. After meeting he came to 



84 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

me with a smile and said: "Allen, after dinner, sit 
down and read the account of our Saviour going to a 
certain village where they would not receive Him, 
what the disciples wanted to do with them and His 
rebuke." (Luke 9 : 51-56. A. V.) I read it and 
have not forgotten it to this day, and am often 
reminded of it when I hear some of our ministers 
opposing and condemning those who do not act as 
they think they should. I believe to this day my 
concern was right. My text was right and the meet- 
ing needed the message, but I got away from the 
leading of the Spirit and put a good deal of Allen Jay 
into it. 

When I hear ministers ranting and stamping, 
pounding the desk and talking about people going 
to hell, I fear they do not know "what manner 
of spirit" they are of. They show there is more 
human nature in what they are saying than there is 
of the spirit of the Master. Let me ever remember 
the command of the Saviour when he said, "Judge 
not that ye be not judged, for with what judgment 
ye judge ye shall be judged. " Soon after Jeremiah 
Grinnell came to our meeting he obtained a minute 
to visit the families of Friends and others and to 
appoint meetings in the surrounding neighborhood. 
He asked me to go with him, which I did, and it was 
a help to me. At our monthly meeting, held Eighth 
month 20, 1859, he obtained a minute to attend Ohio 
Yearly Meeting, to be held at Mt. Pleasant, Ohio, 
and some meeting belonging to it, also some religious 
service in Indiana Yearly Meeting. The monthly 
meeting gave me a minute to go with him and it 
proved a great encouragement and help to my 
spiritual life. On this visit I first met David B. 



BEGINNINGS IN THE MINISTRY 85 

Updegraff, at the home of his grandmother, Ann 
Taylor. She introduced him to me by saying: 
"This is my grandson, David Updegraff. He is not 
doing what he ought to in the Lord's work." It 
was not long after this that he gave himself to the 
Lord and entered upon the work that made him 
such a power in the Church. 

In connection with our academy we had a literary 
society, called the Western Literary Union, which 
met weekly at night. Although living a mile 
from the school-house, I made it a rule to attend. 
After working on the farm during the day, I would 
go and spend the evening, taking my part with the 
young people in composition writing, declaiming 
and debating such questions as came up for discus- 
sion. It was there that I learned to stand on my 
feet and think. I was naturally very bashful and 
avoided talking in company. It may be rather hard 
for my friends to realize this fact now. Nevertheless 
it was a genuine fact. Let me encourage young men 
and women to cultivate the practice of speaking in 
public, that you may learn to control your thoughts 
while speaking. I would also suggest your doing this 
without notes, for if you form the habit of speaking 
from notes, you will become a slave to the practice 
and then you must have them or fail. A per- 
son may be accurate at first by having notes, 
make fewer mistakes and be able to say just what he 
wants to say with them, but while reading his notes 
he cannot watch the audience. The speaker who can 
look his audience in the eyes, can get them to look 
into his face, and have something to say is the one 
who will hold their attention. Then there is another 
advantage. When he sees that his audience is sleepy, 



86 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

looking around and becoming restless, he can sit 
down, and that man is a success who sits down at 
such a time instead of going ahead and trying to 
rouse an interest by scolding, storming and shouting 
the louder. Noise will not fill the place of thought. 
Some noisy sermons would look ridiculous if written 
out and printed. Now, what I have said does not 
prevent study beforehand. It does not mean that the 
sermon shall not be written out and thought over 
and the mind filled with it. On the other hand, it 
makes it more necessary. Then, from a well-filled 
storehouse let the Spirit draw out things new and 
old. It may require the burning of midnight oil to 
prepare the sermon, but let the Spirit so permeate 
it that it will take all the smell of the oil out of it. 
Thus, with a heart filled with love, send the message 
forth to fill the hungry souls of those who are longing 
for it. It will find a place. When once you have 
hold of an audience, don't go on until you lose that 
hold. Study, if necessary, in order to preach short 
sermons. You can preach a long time without much 
thought by going over stereotyped phrases and telling 
anecdotes, talking about these and what you have 
done. Let your illustrations be appropriate, to the 
point and short. Above all and over all, hide behind 
the cross. Remember Jesus says, *' I, if I be lifted 
up, will draw all men unto me. " He is the greatest 
preacher who can lift up the Lord Jesus Christ, he 
who can sound with a bugle note, " Behold the Lamb 
of God." 

At Greenfield Monthly Meeting, held Eighth 
month 1 8, i860, the proper aiithorities brought the 
names of my wife and myself before the monthly 
meeting to be appointed elders. This was very try- 



BEGINNINGS IN THE MINISTRY 87 

ing, especially to my wife, who had been brought up 
in the meeting, for there were a number of old people 
sitting on the front seats whom she had been accus- 
tomed to look up to as elders. The proposition 
being united with, we accepted the responsibilities 
devolving upon us in the spirit of resignation, praying 
that God would help us to fill the place to His glory. 
Our friends were kind and excused us from taking 
prominent seats in the meeting. 

The Call to Preach the Gospel 

During all these months of active labor in farm- 
ing, church and educational work, the impression was 
consciously growing upon me that the Lord was 
calling me to preach the gospel. It brought me into 
deep spiritual trial. I was born with a harelip and a 
cleft palate, and, notwithstanding the fact that my 
lip was sewed up the day I was eight months old, 
and the operation proved successful, so that the 
deformity was not noticeable, the cleft palate 
remained and could not be fully remedied. At the 
age of fifteen I began to wear a false palate. Al- 
though this helped some, my voice was still very 
imperfect and it was difficult for strangers to under- 
stand me. Often when I began to speak the young 
people in the congregation would begin to laugh. 
But I will not dwell upon this deformity. No one 
will ever know what I passed through. It was my 
thorn in the flesh and cost me many bitter hours of 
sorrow. I wanted to preach and felt I could not. 
In a measure I believed I knew how Paul felt when 
he prayed that his "thorn in the flesh" might be 
removed, and in some degree, I have heard the 
message, " My grace is sufficient for thee. " To this 



S8 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

day I never rise to speak, especially before strangers, 
without thinking about this affliction, though I have 
reached the experience that enables me to say, 
"Here I am, and if Thou canst get any glory out of 
my infirmities, I will rejoice and give Thee all the 
praise." It is said that so many who have good 
voices refuse to use them to speak well of His name 
who has crowned them with so many blessings. 
One day about this time, while working in the har- 
vest field, a messenger came, saying that David 
Tatum, who was paying what we called religious 
visits to the families of our meeting, had come to 
visit our family. I went to the house and on my 
way prayed that if the Lord was calling me to that 
work He would show it to his servant and that he 
would be led to tell me. Soon after we sat down 
in silence, he commenced speaking, and his subject 
was faithfulness in the ministry. Just as I was 
thinking it might be for my wife, he turned towards 
me and said, "I mean thee, my brother." Then 
he went on to tell me that the Lord had called me 
and I must not be disobedient, adding: "If thou 
art faithful, thou shalt see many souls saved by thy 
ministry, and thou shalt cross the ocean more than 
once and preach the gospel in other lands, " and more 
that I need not mention here. The dear old man is 
living yet, in Chicago, over ninety years old. A few 
months ago, when I met him, we spoke of that day. 
He had a clear remembrance of the message. Not 
long after this I was called to visit a young woman 
who was thought to be near the close of her life. As 
I returned home through the woods, about i o'clock 
that night, I threw myself down on the ground and 
surrendered all to my Heavenly Father, promising 



BEGINNINGS IN THE MINISTRY 89 

to say what He wanted me to say and go where He 
wanted me to go. From that hour I have loved to 
tell the story of the gospel the best I can. I con- 
tinued to live an active life on the farm and to attend 
to such religious work in connection with the church 
and school as came to me. To the satisfaction, I 
believe, of my friends, after the proper authorities 
had paid the necessary attention to the matter, they 
proposed my name to the monthly meeting as one 
called to preach the Gospel. Greenfield Monthly 
Meeting, held Fifth month 21, 1864, recorded me a 
minister of the gospel of Christ. I think it right to 
say here that I have often thanked my Heavenly 
Father that he gave me a wife who encouraged and 
helped me in the work, always giving me up cheer- 
fully when I felt that duty called me to leave home. 
It meant much to her, with the care of the home and 
the little children. Often when my friends encour- 
aged me and spoke of my faithfulness, I felt she 
needed it more than I did. Hers was the greater 
sacrifice. The Master will know how to bestow the 
reward. She was a real helpmate and was anxious 
that I should do the work well. She would tell me of 
my mistakes in grammar, pronunciation and ges- 
tures, sometimes showing me how I stood in the gal- 
lery, and what I did with my hands. She taught me 
to keep my hands out of my pockets while I was 
talking. She labored hard to break me of the habit 
of speaking so loud and being so boisterous when 
preaching. She never became discouraged, but kept 
on and sometimes in a way that bore fruit. I will 
always remember one morning when I was going to 
drive ten miles to attend the quarterly meeting I 
had bade her farewell and started to drive away 



90 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

when I heard her calling. Looking aroiind, I saw 
her coming down the steps. She came up to me with 
a very solemn face and said very deliberately: "My 
dear, I am going to be very busy to-day and will not 
have time to listen, so thee need not preach loud 
enough for me to hear." Then she turned around 
without a smile, leaving me sitting there, and went 
into the house. When I commenced speaking that 
day, I remembered she was ten miles away. Blessed 
is the preacher who has such a faithful wife, and 
twice blessed is he who listens to her. 

Visiting Families and ''Speaking to Conditions** 

The first minute that I ever took out for religious 
service after I was recorded a minister of the Gospel 
was dated Tenth month 15,1864. It read as follows : 
"To hold myself resigned to visit, in the love of the 
Gospel, the families and individuals of our old quar- 
terly meeting (Concord), and perhaps a few who 
have been but are not now in membership with us. " 
I was accompanied on this visit by a very dear 
friend, William E. Morris. We were closely imited 
in the work, felt the burden resting upon us and 
endeavored to keep our minds open to the leading of 
the spirit, that our message might be adapted to the 
conditions of those we were visiting. It is a strain, 
both physically and mentally, upon those who labor 
thus day after day for a number of days. I remem- 
ber well after we had visited the last family, and we 
started to walk to the nearest station where I could 
take the train for home, we went through the woods 
for some distance. We felt like two boys, telling 
stories, jumping over logs, climbing bushes, laugh- 
ing and enjoying ourselves generally. It might have 



BEGINNINGS IN THE MINISTRY 91 

looked foolish to others, but to my mind it was a 
relaxation that the Heavenly Father gave to two of 
his children who had been trying to do his bidding. 
To this day, I look back with pleasure to that boyish 
romp in the woods that beautiful afternoon. It was 
a relaxation that was good for mind and body, a fit 
preparation for the next work the Master might give 
us to do. I have met with some ministers whose 
preaching would have been improved if they had 
taken a good romp with some little boys on the 
ground and had laughed until their lungs were thor- 
oughly expanded. 

The first ten minutes that I received from my 
monthly meeting for religious service were largely 
for family visiting, which, to my mind, requires 
close attention to the leading of the Spirit. It is a 
fruitful source of good if well done. It may be 
neglected too much by ministers of the present day. 
It is easier to speak to a mixed crowd than to go and 
say : " Thou art the man. " It is the way our Saviour 
reached the heart of the woman of Samaria — "He 
told me all things that ever I did." The question 
has often been asked of me if the gift of speaking to 
conditions of individuals and meetings is not dying 
out. Why do we not hear more of that kind of 
preaching at the present time? In reply I will say 
that every good gift of our Heavenly Father can be 
increased by faithful use or diminished by neglect. 
The pound may be made five or ten pounds, or it can 
be buried in a napkin. As I have said, my first 
religious work was mostly that of family visiting; 
during the first three years of my ministerial labor 
I visited between three and four thousand families. 
The gift of speaking to individuals grew upon me. 



92 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

I would speak modestly of my experience, but these 
impressions grew upon me in those days, so that 
when I went into a home I often found myself look- 
ing at the spiritual life of the different members of the 
family and formed the habit of speaking to individual 
members rather than to the family as a group. 
Sometimes individuals have come to me after- 
wards and inquired, "Who told you about me?" 
In some instances they would accuse my companion 
of having told their history. As an illustration, 
I will give one instance, if my friend will excuse 
me for doing so. I was visiting the Friends' homes 
in a certain town. There were forty families that 
I wanted to call upon in one day and return home 
on the train that night at lo o'clock. The program 
was made out the night before, and messengers were 
sent ahead the next morning telling each family about 
what hour I would reach their home. I requested 
the friend who walked with me not to talk with me 
or claim my attention, but simply to show me the 
way. 

Coming to one home, as I opened the gate 
the text found in Psalms 42 : ii came up, and as I 
opened the door the father and mother were sitting 
there with their two little children. So as I walked 
to the chair waiting for me, I repeated this text: 
" Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art 
thou so disquieted within me? Hope thou in God: 
for I shall yet praise Him, who is the health of my 
countenance, and my God." I then delivered a 
message to the wife, then one to the husband and 
a few words to the children, after which I offered 
prayer and went out. I thought nothing more 
about the message. It was lost, with a himdred 



BEGINNINGS IN THE MINISTRY 93 

others. Some five years afterwards, while living 
in North Carolina, a letter was received from this 
woman telling me I had saved her life, as she had 
poison in the drawer with which to take her life, 
which she intended doing at 10 o'clock that morn- 
ing, but just before the hour the messenger came 
and told her that I would be there at 11 o'clock. 
So she had concluded to wait until after the visit, 
during which I told her that she had been so dis- 
obedient to her Heavenly Father's call that she had 
brought darkness upon her soul and had been 
tempted to take her natural life, and then, in the 
words of the Psalmist, told her to hope in God for 
she would yet praise Him who was the health of her 
countenance and her God. So after her husband 
and I had gone out, she said to an intimate friend 
who came in immediately, " I will try once more to 
be faithful, and see if the message is true, " then rose 
and going to the drawer, took out the poison and 
threw it into the fire. The next time I met her she 
was a recorded minister and was engaged in religious 
service. Others have come to me as I have traveled 
around over the field where I visited thirty-five or 
forty years ago, and have told me that when visiting 
their home I had spoken to their condition so closely 
that they were enabled to settle the question and 
give their hearts to God. Let all the praise be given 
to Him who has said, '' I will guide thee with Mine 
eye." 

At the end of fotir years, in 1868, I entered the 
field to labor in connection with the Baltimore Asso- 
ciation work in the limits of North Carolina Yearly 
Meeting. There my labor was different. I was 
called to look after the school work, talk on educa- 



94 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

tion, preach to large and hungry congregations, many 
of whom had not heard preaching during the war. 
It was the multitude now that I ministered to instead 
of the individual. So in the exercise of my gift my 
work was not pointing out the conditions of families 
and individuals, but preaching the need of salvation 
to the unsaved multitude. Consequently the special 
gift became of a more general character. Another 
reason why we do not have this special gift to point 
out states and conditions is that when the revival 
spirit came upon the church the ministry was 
changed. The revivalist stirred the sinner by 
appealing to the emotions, telling stories, giving 
illustrations and warning the sinner to fiee from the 
wrath to come, until sometimes perhaps the emo- 
tional entered into the work in imdue proportion. 
Then, as is usual, another extreme came. The 
doctrinal followed and we produced a generation of 
theologians who endeavored to present the gospel in 
a systematic way. Again, these have been followed 
by those who were trying to reach the heart through 
the intellect, and their sermons appeal to the reason 
and judgment. Finally, we have the sermons on 
moral and reformatory subjects, and the various 
issues of the day, which sometimes savor more of a 
lectiu*e than of a sermon. Now, all these are good 
and have a tendency to advance the Redeemer's 
kingdom, and I am not ready to condemn those 
who are called to labor in that way, but I have 
prayed that the remaining time of my ministry 
may be more and more like that of the blessed 
Master, simple, easy to be im.derstood and direct 
to the heart of the hearer. I wish we all preached 
more like him who "spake as never man spake." 



Chapter X 

THE DRAFT DURING THE CIVIL WAR 

The year before the close of the war a draft was 
made through Indiana for soldiers. There was a 
sentiment among those in authority that Friends 
were not bearing their proportion of the expense and 
privation in carrying forward the war. There had 
been no draft made within the State, so that those 
who did not believe it was right for them to volunteer 
and enter the army had been left out. Those in 
charge of conducting the war proposed that a draft 
be made upon those who were conscientiously op- 
posed to fighting and that they thus be called upon 
either to enter the service or pay the stmi of three 
hiindred dollars to carry forward the war. When 
the draft was made, my name was one that was 
drawn along with those of several other young 
Friends, two others in our little meeting. It created 
a good deal of excitement among some of otir Friends. 
The two other young Friends paid their three hun- 
dred dollars each, but I felt it right to do nothing, 
feeling that I could not go myself nor give money to 
hire others to go. The proper military officer came 
out and notified me that I would be expected to 
report in the military camp at Lafayette, Indiana, 
for training, on a certain day. I told him that I 
could not conscientiously be there, that as I could 
not fight it would not do any good for me to report. 
Then he demanded the three hundred dollars. To 

(95) 



96 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

this I replied: "If I believed that war was right I 
would prefer to go myself rather than to hire some- 
one else to be shot in my place. " I said that I be- 
lieved our Saviour meant what he said when he said : 
"Thou shalt not kill," and "My kingdom is not of 
this world," and that therefore his followers could 
not fight, and that I took the position of the Chris- 
tians during the first century, when called upon to 
bear arms, whose simple reply was, "I am a Chris- 
tian and therefore cannot fight." After a long 
conversation he left. A few days later he returned 
and asked me to reconsider my decision and place 
three hundred dollars so he could find it. He came 
the third time, to the orchard where I was gathering 
apples, and told me I would either have to come or 
pay the three hundred dollars, or he would be forced 
to sell my property and collect the money. As I 
was firm in my decision, he went into the house and 
tried to get my wife to tell him where he could find 
the money. She told him she felt as I did and that 
she could do nothing but suffer. He then went out 
and looked over the farm, selecting the stock that 
he proposed to sell and then sat down and com- 
menced writing bills for the public sale of our horses, 
cattle and hogs. While he was writing, dinner was 
ready, and when we sat down to the table we insisted 
on his eating with us. We tried to keep up a pleas- 
ant conversation on various subjects, making no 
reference to the work he was engaged in. After din- 
ner he turned to me and said, ' ' If you would get mad 
and order me out of the house, I could do this work 
much easier, but here you are feeding me and my 
horse while I am arranging to take your property 
from you. I tell you it's hard work." We told 



DRAFT DURING THE CIVIL WAR 97 

him we had no unkind feelings toward him, as we 
supposed he was only obeying the orders of those 
who were superior to him. I went out again to my 
work and when he had prepared the sale bills he 
placed one on a large tree by the roadside in front of 
the house and then rode around and placed the 
others in different places in the neighborhood. A 
few days before the time had arrived for the sale, I 
was at Lafayette. He came to me and said, "The 
sale is postponed. I don't know when it will be. 
You can go on using your horses. " I heard nothing 
more about it for several years. After the war 
closed I learned that Governor Morton, who was in 
Washington about that time, spoke to President 
Lincoln about it and he ordered the sale to be 
stopped. My dear wife and I never worried a 
moment about it, for we felt that we were doing the 
will of Him who had condemned all war. So we were 
kept in peace and quietness through it all. But 
some of our neighbors who were not Friends were 
much troubled, and when the war was over we were 
informed that three or four of our wealthy farmer 
neighbors had agreed among themselves that when 
the sale came off they would buy up the horses for 
the three hundred dollars, pay the money over to the 
ofhcer and leave the horses on the farm as mine, 
so that we should not be at any loss on account of our 
religious principles. When we see how incompatible 
war is with the Gospel of Christ it is indeed strange 
that those who claim to be His followers so utterly 
ignore His teachings and substitute that of man in 
place of His declaration that it is no longer an 
"eye for an eye," or a "tooth for a tooth," 
but "love your enemies, and pray for them that 



98 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

despitefully use you and persecute you." It has 
always been pleasant to look back and to feel 
that in a little measure we bore our testimony to 
the peaceable nature of the kingdom of Christ. 



Chapter XI 

THE SETTING UP OF WESTERN YEARLY 
MEETING 

In 1858 Western Yearly Meeting was set up by 
Indiana Yearly Meeting. The opening was con- 
ducted by a committee appointed by Indiana Yearly 
Meeting and several other yearly meetings were 
represented by committees who were present and 
added interest to the occasion. Iowa Yearly Meet- 
ing was set up by Indiana and opened at Oskaloosa 
in 1863, which was followed by Kansas Yearly 
Meeting, opened at Lawrence, Kansas, in 1872, and 
Wilmington Yearly Meeting, opened at Wilmington, 
Ohio, in 1892. In the setting up of Western Yearly 
Meeting, our quarterly meeting at Honey Creek was 
included in its limits, so that we were members of 
Western Yearly Meeting until 1868, when we moved 
to North Carolina. But more of that later on. In 
the year i860. Western Yearly Meeting appointed a 
committee to visit all of its subordinate meetings, 
and individuals as way might open, and labor for 
their help and encouragement. This committee was 
continued in 1861, and was composed of the follow- 
ing Friends, namely, Eleazer Bales, Henry Wilson, 
Calvin Wasson, Robert W. Hodson, Nathan Elliott, 
Isaac Baldwin, Matthew Stanley, Andrew D. Tom- 
linson, Martha Wilson, Sarah Hiatt, Drusilla Wil- 
son, Mary Day, Hannah B. Tatum, Margaret M. 
Bradfield, Rachel H. Woodard, Catherine Elliott, 

(99) 



loo AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

Phoebe G. Taylor and Allen Jay. I remained a 
member of this committee for four years, during 
which time we visited all the quarterly meetings, 
and many of the individual meetings and families. 
All the members of this committee except myself 
were advanced in years and religious experience. I 
was a boy among them, being in my twenty-ninth 
year. It was a School of the Prophets to me. They 
had all been in the service of the Church for a mmiber 
of years. All were ministers or elders. They have 
all passed away except myself and one other, Mar- 
garet Bradfield, now Margaret Newsome, who lives 
in California. 

As we went from one quarterly meeting to 
another, trying to estimate conditions, build up the 
Chvirch, and laboring to draw the young into active 
service, I had the opportunity of studying the lives 
and characters of the members of this committee and 
becoming acquainted with their Christian spirit and 
spiritual discernment in matters connected with the 
Lord's work. I was often impressed with the gentle 
and loving spirit manifested by the different mem- 
bers of this committee towards those who through 
weakness and frailty had missed their way. I could 
not but realize the fact that they had known and 
experienced a definite religious experience and knew 
the voice of God, though their training had been 
such that they did not often say much about it. 
Perhaps it would have been better for the Church had 
they been faithful in telling what the Lord had done 
for them. It would have strengthened others and 
honored their Saviour. But imquestionably they 
were men and women of God, and knew the leading 
of His Spirit. Especially were dear Calvin Wasson 



WESTERN YEARLY MEETING loi 

and Drusilla Wilson led to see the spiritual struggle 
through which I was passing and to extend a helping 
hand in the right way and at the right time. 

Now I come to speak of the sadness which was 
brought over my mind when, a few years later, after 
I had left the yearly meeting, I learned that several 
of these dear Friends felt that they must leave 
the yearly meeting and set up another nearby, 
because they felt that those who called themselves 
revivalists were introducing extremes and practices 
in the meetings for worship that they could not 
endorse or submit to. I believe to this day that it 
was a mistake on both sides. Indeed, I think it is 
doubtful whether separations are ever beneficial in 
advancing the kingdom of God. Those who re- 
mained needed the weight, stability and spiritual 
judgment of those who left, and those who left 
needed some of the earnestness and zeal of those who, 
as they felt, had driven them out by trying to force 
them to adopt some practices that they could not 
conscientiously adopt. Had they remained together, 
some of the extreme things that have been done 
would not have occurred. Neither would those who 
went out have seen their numbers diminishing and 
their young people drifting away from them. They 
needed each other and the Church needed them all. 

The student of church history will not have 
to go far to find that, in those yearly meetings 
where the greatest extravagances have taken place 
and spiritual fanaticism has come in, the con- 
servative element has been eliminated by separation. 
Sometimes when I hear some of the evangelists 
boasting of how they carried on the revival work 
in spite of the old Friends of other days, I wonder 



I02 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

whether He, who has said that it would be better 
for a man to have a millstone hanged about 
his neck and be cast into the sea than to offend one 
of these little ones, does not see something on the 
other side that the evangelist in his zeal does not see. 
It was a sad picture that day to see those old 
Friends, with the tears rolling down their aged cheeks, 
walking out of the meeting-house because they felt 
they could not worship with their brethren. They 
were mistaken, but was all the mistake on their side? 
The Master knows. 

Thinking this over, I have sometimes been re- 
minded, when seeing the zeal of some in pressing 
their views and doctrines, of a little incident in my 
schoolboy days. In ovir neighborhood we had a 
school in the summer, called a subscription school, 
which was attended by children who were not old 
enough to work in the field during the summer. For 
some reason there was one grown young man among 
us. He had no one of his age to play with. He 
tried to find some way of entertaining himself. One 
day he stood up against a tree and said to us little 
fellows, *' I am going to yon tree, and you cannot 
hinder me. " It was a dare and we took him up and 
prepared to resist. Two or three got hold of each 
leg, two or three hung on to each arm, and the 
remainder lined up in two rows in front. We then 
announced that we were ready for the fray. He 
started, striking those who were hanging to him and 
walking right over the line of opposition in front 
of him, stepping on some of the poor feet, knocking 
others down, kicking those loose who were hanging 
to his legs, and finally reached his goal. But when 
he looked back, some were lying on the ground cry- 



WESTERN YEARLY MEETING 103 

ing, and others were going to tell the teacher and 
show their wounded toes and fingers. He had 
reached the tree, but did he have much to boast of 
when we count the wounds that he had inflicted? 
The revivalists may walk over the feelings of those 
who cannot endorse their actions and still love the 
Master as well as they do. God holds them all alike 
precious in his sight. George Fox said, "Friends, 
be careful where you place your feet, for you may 
tread upon some of the precious flowers springing up 
out of God's earth." John Woolman said, "I 
waited several years until Philadelphia Yearly 
Meeting was ready to receive my message on the 
subject of himian slavery, so as not to create discord 
in the body. ' ' He lived to see the results he longed 
for without making bitter feelings and separation. 
The Master said, " I send you forth as sheep among 
wolves. Be ye therefore wise as serpents and harm- 
less as doves. " 



Chapter XII 

THE ERA OF SEPARATION 

Anti-slavery Agitation 

The first testimony that we have concerning 
slavery is that of George Fox, while in the Island of 
Barbadoes, in 167 1. In this he urges humane treat- 
ment of the slaves, and, after a time of slavery, that 
they be set free. Friends, for a time, did not regard 
the holding of slaves, when well treated, as wrong; 
but their point of view gradually changed, and in 
1783 they sent their first petition to Parliament. 
The same year a Quaker Committee was formed, 
consisting of William Dillwyn, George Harrison, 
Samuel Hoare, Thomas Knoles, John Lloyd, and 
Joseph Woods. Friends never ceased their efforts 
tmtil the slaves were freed. In America, the first 
public presentation of the subject was by some Ger- 
man Friends near Philadelphia, in 1688, but neither 
the monthly nor quarterly meetings took it up. In 
1774 there was a minute disowning any member of 
Philadelphia Yearly Meeting who continued to hold 
slaves or had any part in the slave business. The 
history of this change of sentiment in Philadelphia 
is very interesting, and even more so is the history of 
North Carolina Yearly Meeting, as it labored to free 
itself from the evil of slavery, located, as it was, in a 
slave-holding State. It is not our purpose to go into 
this in detail. It has been written by Friends 

(104) 



THE ERA OF SEPARATION 105 

better prepared to do so. In 1836 an epistle from 
London to Indiana Yearly Meeting expressed the 
sympathy of English Friends with those in America, 
and, while recognizing that the difficulties of Ameri- 
can Friends were greater than those of Friends in 
England, in a similar struggle, urged Friends to be 
zealous in testifying against slavery. This was well 
received, and Friends were urged to practice and 
testify in favor of abolition. From 1836 to 1840 
the testimonies remained about the same. Some, 
more zealous than others, began forming abolition 
societies and opening the meeting-houses for aboli- 
tion lectures. This the more conservative members 
opposed, believing it well to keep the testimony clear 
and faithful, but discouraging the more aggressive 
zeal. The slavery question was at this time causing 
great excitement all over the country, and the yearly 
meeting minutes to the monthly and quarterly meet- 
ings urged Friends not to join with those who did 
not profess to wait for divine guidance, and under 
the weight of this concern to watch attentively for 
every right opening and to move therein in a united 
body. All this time the yearly meeting had a stand- 
ing committee, called the African Committee, who 
were doing all they could towards schooling colored 
children, holding Bible schools for the adults, circu- 
lating tracts, and seeing that they received justice in 
individual cases. 

Separation in Indiana Yearly Meeting 

The immediate causes of the separation in 
Indiana occurred during the yearly meeting of 1842. 
On Seventh-day morning. Tenth month i, 1842, a 
minute from the meeting for sufferings was read, 



io6 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

stating that four members of that meeting were dis- 
quaHfied for usef illness in that meeting. These 
members were Benjamin Stanton, Jacob Grave, 
WilHam Loche and Charles Osborne, who were 
leaders in the antislavery movement. The meeting 
accepted the report and appointed a committee to 
present names to fill the vacancies. Then, on the 
next day, Henry Clay, who was a slaveholder and, 
it was understood, was seeking the Whig nomina- 
tion for the Presidency, was received and taken to 
meeting in the carriage of the yearly meeting's clerk 
and given a prominent seat. This, many Friends 
thought, was only common courtesy to a stranger 
and a man of superior talents; but the antislavery 
element regarded it as an open insult. Accordingly, 
they made an effort to organize before the close of 
yearly meeting, but this effort was unsuccessful. 
However, on Second month 7, 1843, at Newport, 
now Fountain City, they organized a meeting of 
their own. The meeting-house was divided by per- 
manent partitions, and each party had its own side 
of the house. The feeling was also very strong at 
Deer Creek, Grant County, Indiana, where there 
was a division. These were the strongholds of the 
separatists, though some members throughout the 
yearly meeting sympathized with them. The next 
autumn the antislavery Friends sent an epistle to 
London Yearly Meeting, which it refused to recog- 
nize. Also, a sealed communication was sent to 
Indiana Yearly Meeting, which it refused to open. 
A committee from England came over to labor 
and to restore unity among the membership, but it 
refused to recognize the antislavery meeting. There 
was no question of doctrine involved, simply their 



THE ERA OF SEPARATION 107 

attitude towards slavery. The antislavery Friends 
accused the yearly meeting of thrusting them out 
without a hearing and silencing their testimonies 
against slavery for the sake of popularity. They 
always claimed they did not secede, but were driven 
out. They delighted to call the Friends who did not 
secede ''proslavery Friends" (a name which they 
resented), and it was with a touch of sarcasm that 
they represented the body of the yearly meeting 
as attending elections and voting for slaveholders 
and proslavery committees, faring sumptuously 
every day on the wages of unrighteousness, the gain 
of oppression, namely, the unpaid toil of the down- 
trodden slave. As they had forbidden antislavery 
meetings, they designated the leaders of the yearly 
meeting the Scribes and Pharisees, and themselves 
the followers of Christ who had been cast out. On 
the other hand, the meeting at large was careful to 
have nothing to do with antislavery Friends, and, 
in the opposition to their zeal, failed to see that it 
was under a very real sense of duty and a feeling 
of the magnitude of the evil that antislavery 
Friends felt that they could not even modify their 
own testimony without compromising principle. 
The too rigid conservatism they would not submit 
to. The members of the yearly meeting, however, 
were in favor of abolition, but were conservative 
enough to want to test the new movement. In the 
minutes of the yearly meeting for sufferings it 
was plain that they advocated unconditional eman- 
cipation, but it was too much in theory and not 
enough in aggressive action. They were much 
grieved over the separation, and doubtless the 
decided action of the antislavery Friends did much 



io8 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

towards awakening the yearly meeting to more 
aggressive action in regard to the measiires they 
advocated. 

After about fourteen years of separate meetings, 
there being no longer a call for separation, the 
antislavery Friends returned, about 1856. The 
coming back was gradual, in most places occupy- 
ing four or five years. Perhaps some concessions 
were made on both sides. The yearly meeting had 
become more open and aggressive as the evil grew in 
magnitude. The other party had lost some of their 
overactive zeal, but none of their principle. Each 
side was more ready to listen to the other with a 
kindly feeling. Here, again, the future historian 
will be able to see that there was no real cause for 
separation. The proper exercise of Christian pa- 
tience on the part of both would have enabled them 
to have gone forward unitedly in the work they were 
both interested in. It is easy for us sometimes to 
imagine that we are persecuted when in our zeal 
we are not permitted to go ahead and denounce those 
who do not see things as we do. There were no 
differences in their views on the evil of slavery. It 
was a difference in their spirit and manner of fighting 
it. Those who remained thought it best not to open 
their meeting-houses for political meetings where 
the speakers said bitter things against the Church 
and all who did not join with them and use their 
weapons of warfare. In our quarterly meeting, 
these meetings were held in the school-houses. I 
remember going to our school-house, with my father, 
to hear one of their strongest men speak. He pro- 
nounced bitter judgment upon the Friends who were 
not letting him speak in the meeting-house. While 



THE ERA OF SEPARATION 109 

my father's house was one of the underground rail- 
road stations, and for a while he bore his testimony 
against slavery by buying free-labor goods, thereby 
showing his belief in the evil of slavery, yet he, with 
others, felt it right to keep in harmony with the 
yearly meeting, and consequently in harmony one 
with another. Bitterness was kept out and no 
wounds were made to be healed afterwards, and 
when the time came to receive the dear Friends of 
Deer Creek, in Grant County, Indiana, back into 
unity with the church, my father's voice was heard 
in Mississinawa Monthly Meeting, advocating receiv- 
ing them back as a body and recognizing th«m 
as a monthly meeting at once, and, as soon as possi- 
ble, recording their ministers and appointing their 
elders. 

There a monthly meeting was bom in a day, 
in harmony with Indiana Yearly Meeting. That 
was a good day at old Mississinawa Monthly Meet- 
ing. The past was to be forgotten, and hence- 
forth they were to walk together in the work of 
saving souls. 

Those who were active on both sides of the con- 
troversy are nearly all gone. Here and there is one 
who remembers those days, but these would draw 
the curtain over the past and turn their faces toward 
the duties of the twentieth century. Slavery is 
gone. It died in a way that none of them expected. 
How much one may have hindered or the other 
hastened this end He only knows who knows the end 
from the beginning. May we not hope that the 
Church has learned a lesson that will make it harder 
for divisions to ever come among us again? If so, 
those trials will not have been in vain. 



no AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

The Beginnings of the Revival — Separation 

I have already alluded to the Conservative or 
Wilburite separation in Western Yearly Meeting. 
Here it may be right for me to go into this sub- 
ject more fully. All the later Wilburite, or "Con- 
servative, " separations were caused by the breaking 
out of the revival spirit. 

Indeed, the "general meetings" were the fruit of 
this revival work. There was created a hungering 
for the Gospel. The membership was moved by the 
Spirit to seek something definite in the way of 
religious experience. As I have said, we felt it in 
our school at Farmers' Institute, where a number of 
children were converted, and in the neighborhood 
prayer meetings, which were held in the homes. 
When we met socially, we would often read a portion 
of Scripture and have a time of prayer before 
closing. This went on quietly from 1861 to 
1865. Jeremiah A. Grinnell was the himian instru- 
mentality that God used to lead it forward so 
quietly and wisely that but little opposition was 
ever raised against it. In the winter of 1866-67, i't 
broke out in Earlham College, when twenty young 
men were converted in one term, and before the end 
of the year almost the whole student body was swept 
into the movement. A young man from Canada, 
by the name of Seabum Borland, was especially 
active in this movement. The following year the 
Earlham report gave the following: "Early in the 
year the officers and Christian students were actively 
concerned for the spiritual welfare of the scholars. 
The meetings for worship were attended with life, 
and the students' prayer meetings gradually in- 



THE ERA OF SEPARATION m 

creased in numbers and interest. Souls became 
awakened to a sense of their need, and some were 
converted. The work went quietly on throughout 
the first two terms. Early in the third term a 
deeper and more general interest was awakened, 
and continued to grow, until there were but few 
who did not acknowledge the pardoning love of 
Christ." Some of these students carried the fire 
to different parts of the yearly meeting. Especially 
at Walnut Ridge was this manifested, where a 
great revival broke out and was followed by some 
extreme excitement, which, to some degree, marred 
the work at that place. 

After having been actively connected for the last 
forty years with the educational work in four of 
the American yearly meetings, and, in addition to 
that, having visited nearly all the Friends colleges, 
boarding schools and academies in the world, I am 
prepared to say that I believe that the minds and 
hearts of the young are better prepared while pur- 
suing their education to receive and embrace the 
truths of the Gospel than at any other period of 
life. Good, healthy study in our colleges fits the 
mind so that it is susceptible to religious influences. 
The personal experience of those who have gone 
through college will demonstrate this fact — that 
they feel the need, while thus young, of something 
higher and more spiritual. I believe, if you select 
two hundred students from any of our colleges and 
compare them with a like number of young persons 
selected from any of our communities in any of our 
large meetings, you will find the religious experience 
and spiritual life lower among those taken outside 
the college life. We hear much said by some of the 



112 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

danger of education, but they forget the dangers 
:ound in ignorance. We mark one who is tinctured 
with skepticism who comes from the college, and 
pass by two or three skeptical ones who live in 
ignorance in our own meetings or neighborhood. 
Yes, I firmly believe that an occupied and trained 
mind is better soil to receive the good seed than the 
vacant and idle mind of the uncultured and ignorant. 
Fox -understood this when he left some of his worldly 
possessions to establish a school, where the youth 
should be taught everything "useful in creation." 

This revival spirit was carried up to Plainfield 
in 1867, so that in nearly every house along Main 
Street, where Friends boarded, prayer meetings 
were held. Some of us who were young then 
remember that in seeking board for yearly meeting 
we sought those homes where we knew there would 
be no objection to such meetings. The Conserva- 
tive Friends were watching us. 

Until the revival era night meetings were almost 
tmknown among Friends. They never occurred 
except when a traveling minister was present and 
had one appointed. But the liberty and spiritual 
life which Friends always had in theory, and in 
some measure in practice, would not long submit 
to this rigidness. Perhaps we were too determined 
in declaring that we would hold meetings where 
and when we pleased, while the Conservatives were 
just as determined to prevent them. The spirit of 
controversy was raised and indulged in by both 
sides, until it culminated in a separation at Plain- 
field, in 1877. 



Chapter XIII 
REFLECTIONS ON SEPARATION 

" Separation is no c\ire for the evils of Chtirch or 
State." These words, spoken in Western Yearly- 
Meeting in 1 86 1 by that Christian scholar and min- 
ister of the Gospel, John Hodgkin, of England, are 
weighty and full of wisdom. Had the members of 
Western Yearly Meeting believed in them and 
acted accordingly, the separation in that yearly 
meeting in 1877 would never have taken place. 

Therefore, in the place of trying to give a 
history of the separations in Western and Iowa 
Yearly Meetings, thereby stirring up bitter feeling 
and tearing open old sores, I prefer to use my pen 
in healing them and hastening the day when they 
will be forgotten. So I will say but little about 
the separations, but endeavor to give my views and 
feelings about them in general. Although aware 
that I shall lay myself open to attacks from all sides, 
yet, upon examination into this subject, I am fully 
persuaded that the statement placed at the head of 
this section, taken from a sermon of John Hodgkin's 
in Western Yearly Meeting, is true, and if Western 
Yearly Meeting had listened to these strong words, 
it would be in better shape to-day. Yes, both 
factions would be in a better spiritual condition and 
many unkind words would not have been spoken, 
homes would not have been divided, and brothers 
and sisters would not have been arrayed against 
8 (113) 



114 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

each other. The history of separations proves that 
they are destructive to the growth of the Church. 
Many illustrations could be given to prove this 
contention, but one will be sufficient to illustrate my 
point. I take the facts from a publication by the 
Nantucket Historical Association, Voliune I, Bulle- 
tin No. I, entitled, "Quakerism on Nantucket 
Island." 

Our Society was established there about the year 
1700 in a prosperous way and about 1790, with 
5,600 inhabitants on the island, half of them at- 
tended Friends meeting, but in the year 1900 not 
a Friend was left on the island. First came the 
Hicksite separation, with all its bitterness, which 
was carried so far that some were disowned because 
they "sympathized with the other party." Then 
later came the Wilburite separation, in 1845, which 
again stirred up strife and bitter feeling, and, of 
course, each side claimed to be the original Friends. 
During the controversy not much was said about 
doctrine, but after it was over, each accused the 
other of holding views which were not in accordance 
with the teachings of George Fox. There may have 
been some truth on both sides. Then came the Otis 
separation, which took place in Scipio, New York, 
when the Scipio Yearly Meeting decided to publish 
the journal of Joseph Hoage which contained " some 
remarks made by him which were construed deroga- 
tory to the temper and judgment of Job Otis." 
The Otis family wanted to omit the criticism. This 
was enough for another separation. James Otis led 
one party and John King the other; so in 1839 they 
separated. The spirit of separation, which had so 
long lived among Friends on Nantucket, was ready 



REFLECTIONS ON SEPARATION 115 

to take sides, so under the leadership of Peleg 
Mitchel, Nantucket, that meeting was nearly all 
carried for the Otis party, which continued to 
dwindle under the fault-finding spirit until the last 
one had gone, and when I was there in 1900 they 
told me there was not one Friend left. The old 
meeting-house where I preached many years before 
is now occupied by the Nantucket Historical Asso- 
ciation, and there you can sit and study the history 
of Friends when they held control of the island and 
there was no other denomination there. Now the 
visitor sees fine church buildings of other denomina- 
tions. As you walk through the streets, out over 
the commons and through the graveyard, you feel 
that these people died fighting each other. As you 
pass through the Wilburite portion of the graveyard 
you see no stones. The graves are unmarked. 
You feel as though you were walking through a 
pasture field. On the Orthodox and Gumeyite side 
you see names on the low stones that are familiar. 
You have seen the same names in New England, 
the Middle States, among the pine and red hills of 
the South, throughout the great Middle West and 
far away beyond the Rocky Mountains. Then you 
sit down and wonder if their descendants have 
learned wisdom from the fathers. Have they 
learned the great truth that "Separation is no cure 
for the evils of Church or State? " Have they been 
able to grasp the fact that you cannot make people 
see the great truths of the Gospel just alike? The 
Saviour presented himself in His glorious saving 
power to one in one way and to another in another, 
but was precious alike to them all and they all alike 
precious to him. These were some of the thoughts 



ii6 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

that came over me as I visited these scenes and read 
of the past while sitting in the old meeting-house, 
but as I listened methought I could hear a voice 
saying: "My children have not learned the lesson. 
They are still finding fault. They are still judging. 
They are still asking if they may call down fire from 
heaven to bum up those who do not see me as they 
do." And the voice of the Master bade me look 
the Church over from New England to California, 
from the Lakes to the Gulf, and along the fertile 
Mississippi Valley, where He had sent the rain and 
the sunshine, and behold the same spirit exists in 
those places. 

But I turn away from these dark, sad pictures 
and come to the present. Now, as I hold my pen 
and look around upon my desk, I need only to reach 
out and turn over the pages of some of our church 
periodicals and see that the controversy is still going 
on. The fire of persecution is still burning. If 
some one is proclaimed a heretic, there are those 
who are ready to throw the wood on the fire, and all 
this in the name of the meek and lowly Jesus. 
Then comes the question: "How long shall these 
things continue?" The answer from those who 
judge is: "Until everybody believes as we do. We 
are right. God has chosen us to stand for the faith 
once delivered to the saints." Such are their 
actions, though they do not dare to put them into 
words. But I have said enough to give my views 
on separations, and close by asking : Has a separa- 
tion ever caused more people to hear the Gospel? 
Ever enlarged the Church? Ever shown to the 
world more of the gentleness and meekness of Christ ? 
Has a separation ever caused the world to exclaim, 



REFLECTIONS ON SEPARATION 117 

"Behold how these Christians love one another?" 
Has it ever caused those who held wrong views to 
turn and hold right ones? On the other hand, 
some of us who have been connected with families 
in which husbands and wives, brothers and sisters 
have been arrayed against each other, know some- 
thing of the bitterness that it engenders which lasts 
to this day. Some one says: "But we must come 
out and be separate from sinners. " "Let him that 
is without sin cast the first stone." During the 
separation in Nantucket a dear Friend who passed 
through it said sadly: "I have seen men of natural 
kindness and tenderness become hard-hearted and 
severe. I have seen justice turned back and mercy 
led aside. " Enough of this history. 

What was true on Nantucket Island has been 
more or less true in other places where these sad 
separations have taken place. Other reasons might 
be given for the losses of Friends in the island, but 
separation is the one I am speaking about as a 
fruitful cause not only in one place, but in others also. 

Justice to history demands that I record a 
separation in Iowa. This is one thing that both 
sides agree on. They are also clearly agreed in 
saying that the other party was the one to blame, 
and the yearly meeting minutes of each party show 
plainly that a Christian spirit was not manifested 
by the other side. Each side also points out its 
long and faithful labor to prevent the disownment 
of the other. They show that they were justified 
in the course they pursued and that they have felt 
great peace of mind for being faithful to the law 
and testimony. So I desire to give a few statements 
which all appear to unite with, leaving others to tear 



ii8 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

open the wound and tell who was wrong and who 
was right. I prefer to let the Lord settle that. It 
may be that some on both sides will be surprised. 

It appears that the first ptiblic manifestation of 
difference of opinion occurred at Bear Creek Quar- 
terly Meeting. It took place at the quarterly 
meeting held at Bear Creek in 1873, when the com- 
mittee on general meetings made its report. 
Some were satisfied with the report, and others 
were not. Some were especially dissatisfied with 
the ''mourners' bench" and the "testimony meet- 
ings." The differences which first became public 
in the quarterly meeting continued to increase until 
they finally culminated in a separation in 1877. 
If I were to follow these troubles, it would be a 
history of differences continued in private and 
public debates. Business meetings were so ham- 
pered that it was hard to do the necessary business. 
When committees were to be appointed, each faction 
tried to get a member from their side on the com- 
mittee. But I leave others who enjoy such things 
to write the history. The Conservative Yearly 
Meeting, in 1886, revised their discipline. In the 
preface are these words: "To whom it may come. 
In consequence of innovations in doctrine and 
practice which have been introduced into our meet- 
ings, or, rather, forced upon us, we have deemed it 
our duty to withdraw from such, and we organize 
oiu- meetings in order that we may hold them in 
accordance with the ancient usage of the Society, 
and have adopted the following discipline for their 
government." On the other hand, as I have said, 
the Liberal Yearly Meetings show by their reports 
and printed minutes that they visited the separa- 



REFLECTIONS ON SEPARATION 119 

tists and labored with them under a deep concern, 
but were not able to show them the error of their 
way. Private letters from both sides have told me 
how deeply they mourn the separation and how 
they have wept over the un-Christian spirit of those 
who went out from them. 

I turn from Iowa and simply glance for a few 
minutes at Western Yearly Meeting. Here the 
same thing was enacted. One side, in a spirit of 
revival, held prayer meetings at night in private 
homes during yearly meeting, the evangelists having 
altars of prayer and condemning publicly those who 
did not unite with them, introducing singing and 
forcing those who did not believe in it to hear or 
leave the house. On the other hand, there was 
just as much stubbornness and opposition mani- 
fested in the same factious spirit against this move- 
ment. I was a member of the yearly meeting at 
that time, enjoyed the revival movement and re- 
member how determined we were to save souls, 
not thinking of those we might injure in the attempt 
or how we might cripple the Church and mar the 
harmony by pressing our views too fast. To-day 
we would all rejoice to see Western Yearly Meeting 
one united body, and I believe that it would be a 
stronger and more healthy body, better prepared 
to carry forward the Lord's work, if some of the 
conservative element that was driven out was to-day 
mingled with the extreme radical element that at 
times manifests itself in various places. I close 
this article by quoting: "And now abideth faith, 
hope, love, these three, but the greatest of these is 
love." 



Chapter XIV 

HOW NATHAN HUNT DELAYED SEPARA- 
TION IN NORTH CAROLINA 

I have given a rather detailed account of the 
Conservative separation in Iowa in order that the 
young people and those of another generation may- 
have some idea of the course of events and the 
manner of proceeding when there has been a division 
in the Chiurch. If I were to go into the details of 
the one in Western Yearly Meeting it would be 
similar in many respects. Some different opinions 
on methods and practices and in some places an 
honest difference on the explanation of certain 
scriptiiral passages which grew wider as they were 
discussed, and in some instances resulted in each 
party going to extremes on the point they had taken, 
imtil they got as far apart as possible and were in 
no condition to see good in each other. How sad 
the picture thus presented by those who professed 
to love each other. I have purposely avoided 
mentioning some of the bitter expressions and im- 
Christian acts which occurred in some of the meet- 
ings where actual strife took place in order to get in 
possession of the records — holding the clerk's table 
and in some instances destroying it, entering into 
lawsuits in order to secure the property. What a 
commentary upon the teaching of Him who said: 
*'My kingdom is not of this world, else would My 
servants fight," and, "A new commandment give I 

(120) 



SEPARATION 



121 



unto you, that ye should love one another even as 
I have loved you." I prefer to throw the veil of 
charity over these things rather than to drag them 
out into the light and renew the controversy. Let 
the wound heal, and let the world see that we are 
one even as Christ and the Father are one. Some- 
times when reviewing the history of these separa- 
tions we are made to wish that there might have 
been a Nathan Hunt in each of these yearly meet- 
ings who would have had the influence he had in 
North Carolina Yearly Meeting, when the Wilbiu-ites 
sent a committee to that yearly meeting. There 
was also a committee sent from the regular yearly 
meeting, Eli and Sybil Jones being members of the 
latter. I remember with interest the account they 
gave me of what happened. 

At that time the Yearly Meeting of Ministers 
and Elders was opened at Deep River on Seventh- 
day, the yearly meeting proper opening on Second- 
day morning following at New Garden, in the old 
meeting-house. The subject was opened up in the 
Meeting of Ministry and Oversight, and each side 
was given an opportunity to speak. The discussion 
was long, lasting until nearly dark and the usual 
controversial spirit was manifest. When Sybil 
Jones arose to speak a dear minister, whose name 
has been a household word through the West, put 
up her feet to keep her away from the partition so 
that she might not be heard. 

In order to understand the situation, it is right 
to say that Nathan Hunt's son, Thomas, was the 
clerk of the yearly meeting and his daughter, 
Asenath Clark, and her husband, Dougan Clark, 
had been on a religious visit to New England and 



122 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

had come fully determined to throw their influence 
in favor of endorsing the Wilburite body. They had 
secured their brother, Thomas, on their side. 
Nathan Hunt had a room in the New Garden 
Boarding-School building, now Founders' Hall, 
Guilford College, where he made his home during 
yearly meeting. The First-day night before the 
yearly meeting opened he invited both of the com- 
mittees from New England to come to his room. 
When they had assembled and were quiet, he said: 
"I want to hear from both sides all about this 
trouble," and suggested that the Wilburite com- 
mittee speak first, giving their reasons for the sepa- 
ration, and that the other side keep still until they 
were done. After they had finished and said they 
had nothing more to say, he called for the other 
side to present their case. He kept quiet until they 
were done. It was then about i o'clock in the 
morning. He sat silent a little while, then asked 
a few questions and said, " Now Friends, I want you 
all to go to bed, ' ' and dismissed them without any 
one getting an idea what he thought. He tells us 
himself that he did not go to bed that night, but 
spent the night in silence before the Lord, waiting 
to know His will as to what North Carolina Yearly 
Meeting should do. Next morning he manifested 
his usual Christian politeness towards the different 
members of the committees. No one could tell 
what was passing through his mind. Meeting com- 
menced just as usual. There was intense interest, 
for all knew that the question was to be settled 
whether North Carolina would remain in unity with 
the main body of Friends or join a faction of New 
England in cutting loose from correspondence with 



SEPARATION 123 

London Yearly Meeting and the great body of 
Friends in this country. There were a niimber of 
ministers there from other yearly meetings. Among 
them were Sarah M. Hiatt and Enos G. Pray from 
the West. Enos G. Pray was a young man who was 
coming into prominence and was destined in coming 
years to exert an influence upon the Church in many 
places in our land. Well do I remember listening 
to his full, musical voice with deep emotion in my 
boyhood days, and vivid were the impressions made 
upon my mind by his ministry. Little more than 
the usual time was given to the public worship that 
morning. Then the business was entered upon in 
the usual way by reading the opening minute, 
calling the representatives' names and reading the 
minutes of the traveling Friends. Then the clerk 
commenced reading the epistles. When he came to 
New England he said, "There are two epistles on 
the table purporting to be from New England Yearly 
Meeting. I propose to read the one signed by the 
clerk of the Wilburite Yearly Meeting," calling 
his name. Several of those who had been posted 
on that side united at once and the clerk commenced 
reading. Nathan Hunt, who up to that time had 
not said a word, then spoke out in a loud voice, 
saying, " Hold, Friends, there is a lion in the camp.' ' 
All eyes were turned towards him. Placing his 
hand on the banister and standing by the clerk, he* 
said slowly, ''Thomas, sit down." Then followed 
a scene which those who saw and heard it never 
forgot. Between eighty and ninety years of age, 
his voice was feeble when he began, but he gradually 
got warmed up and his eyes kindled with their old 
fire. His old eloquence also came back and for an 



124 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

hour or more he reviewed the controversy between 
J. J. Gumey and John Wilbur in England and the 
action of London and New England Yearly Meet- 
ings in the whole matter, and closed by warning 
Friends against the spirit of division. Tiiming to 
the clerk, he said, "Read the epistle signed by 
Samuel Boyd Tobey, from New England. " Almost 
the whole meeting rose in a body and endorsed the 
proposition. He had swept everything before him. 
The clerk sat silent, but the assistant clerk took up 
the epistle and read it slowly and solemnly. The 
delegation from the Wilburite Yearly Meeting rose 
and left the house and that evening started for 
home. Thus North Carolina kept up her record 
of having no division, but a little of the same spirit 
remained in two of the quarterly meetings, namely 
Eastern and Contentna, which a few years ago 
began to manifest more plainly by finding fault 
with the acts of the yearly meeting and refusing to 
pay their money if any of it was for evangelistic 
work. In 1902, at the time of the adoption of the 
Uniform Discipline, it was made an excuse by those 
indulging in this spirit to separate. They were 
encouraged by a few persons outside the yearly 
meeting, but be it said to the credit of North Caro- 
lina Yearly Meeting, they have permitted them to 
hold their meetings in the house they occupied 
before. While they have no title to the property 
it is far better to let them alone, and if they find 
more pleasure in meeting separately, let them enjoy 
it. In giving this account of how Nathan Hunt 
prevented the separation, I have repeated it mostly 
from memory as I have heard it related by those 
who were present that day. At one time I was 



SEPARATION 125 

permitted to read a copy of a letter written by 
Nathan Hunt himself, giving an accoimt of the 
whole circumstance. I wish I had secured a copy 
myself, for it is an instance of the influence Nathan 
Hunt had in his old age upon the membership of that 
yearly meeting, 



Chapter XV 

VISITS TO NORTH CAROLINA AND 
BALTIMORE MEETINGS 

Preparations for the First Visit to North Carolina 
and Baltimore Yearly Meetings 

I now come to the time when I obtained my 
sixth minute for religious service — service which 
brought me into the closest trial I had ever entered 
into, and a service which resulted in an entire 
change of all my life plans. I had no idea of the 
far-reaching effect upon my future work to result from 
obeying this call that seemed so clear and definite. 

We were living on a small farm, heavily in debt, 
struggling along to meet our financial needs, and 
here was a call to drop all and go away to spend 
four or five months, hiring some one to gather my 
com and take care of the stuff, and in addition bor- 
rowing the sum of $150, paying 10 per cent, interest 
on it, to meet traveling expenses — and all this in 
the face of the fact that I belonged to a wealthy 
monthly meeting. But I knew that neither the 
monthly nor quarterly meeting would help. Some 
of our younger members to-day may wonder why 
the expenses, at least, were not provided for by the 
meeting. But some of us remember how fearful 
Friends were of encouraging anything like a paid 
ministry. The meeting very fully endorsed my 
concern; much sympathy was expressed and tears 

(126) 



VISITING MEETINGS 127 

were shed as one after another united with my being 
Hberated and encouraged to attend to the concern. 
Indeed, one dear Friend went so far as to suggest 
that he thought it might be right for the Friends to 
turn out and gather my corn, as I had to leave before 
corn gathering was over ; but that was all there was 
in it, for when I returned next spring I had to 
finish gathering what my hired man failed to get in 
before winter set in. I have mentioned this, not 
because I regretted doing it, but to give the facts 
in the case for the benefit of those who may feel that 
they are bearing burdens to-day. 

I had been away, visiting the meetings and 
families of Plainfield and White Lick Quarterly 
Meetings for two or three weeks, and on Sixth-day, 
by an extra effort, visited forty families between 
morning and 10 o'clock at night, and then took the 
train for home, reaching the station three miles 
from our house about two in the morning. As I 
walked across the prairie, I settled the matter in my 
own mind, so that I went to monthly meeting that 
day and obtained a minute dated Eighth month 18, 
1866, *'to visit in the love of the Gospel, Baltimore 
and North Carolina Yearly Meetings and the families 
belonging to them as the way might open for it. 
Also such schools as might have been started within 
the limits of North Carolina Yearly Meeting since 
the war." This minute was endorsed by the 
quarterly meeting the next week. A few days 
afterwards I learned by letter that my Uncle Thomas 
Jay, who lived at West Branch, Ohio, had obtained 
a minute from his monthly and quarterly meetings 
in almost the same language as mine. We opened 
correspondence and decided that we would travel 



128 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

together and labor jointly in the work, which we did 
to our mutual satisfaction, and to this day it is a 
pleasure to dwell upon those days of united labor. 
When we began visiting families of North Carolina 
Yearly Meeting, in the limits of Eastern Quarter, 
we went together for a couple of days. My uncle 
said to me one evening, *' I am tired of sitting and 
listening to thee and then beginning and saying the 
same thing over," and asked me if I was not tired 
of listening to him and then when he got through 
repeating it over after him. He thought we had 
better divide the field, with which I fully united, so 
from that time on when we went into a meeting we 
would ask the Friends to divide the families into 
two parts and give each one of us a guide. We 
would then start out, one going to the right hand 
and the other to the left, until we came together 
once more on the other side of the neighborhood. I 
never felt uneasy but that those who fell to Uncle 
Thomas's portion got as good or better than they 
woiild have received if they had fallen to my 
portion. 

Here I wish to pause and say a few words in 
regard to my Uncle Thomas Jay. He was next to 
my father in age (i 8 13-1890). In early boyhood he 
evinced extraordinary will power, combined with 
remarkable habits of industry and perseverance. 
His morals were also of a strong order, as he was a 
member of the Society of Friends and an ardent 
adherent to their Christian faith. The elements of 
that deep piety that marked his character through 
life were early implanted in his mind. In middle 
life he was called by the Still Small Voice to preach 
the Gospel. In 1854 he was recorded a minister, 



H 
O 

r 
S 

in 
O 




% ^ 




VISITING MEETINGS 129 

and from that time until his last illness he con- 
tinued to proclaim the message of salvation with a 
zeal and earnestness commensurate with the im- 
portance of his mission. Thomas Jay was a man 
with a purpose. He never sought worldly distinc- 
tion nor courted popularity. Controlled by the 
dictates of his conscience, he fearlessly performed 
his duty towards God and his fellow-men regardless 
of criticism. His gift qualified him to visit families. 
He was often led to speak to states and conditions 
in a remarkable manner. So when we learned of 
the similarity of our concerns, we decided to go 
together. In this work we became closely united. 
It being soon after the war, and the roads bad, we did 
much of our traveling on horseback or mule-back, 
whichever was the most convenient. We soon got 
our names up as fast riders. We did not idle away 
much time. Each had a guide to go with him, and, 
although Friends were scattered and the roads bad, 
yet we succeeded generally in visiting from fifteen 
to twenty families apiece each day. In the case of 
my Uncle Thomas, his communications so fitted the 
conditions of the families that his guide was accused 
of telling about the individuals beforehand. We 
visited all the families of Friends in North Carolina 
and Tennessee, all meetings and schools under the 
care of Friends. I have said that we were closely 
united in Christian fellowship, and when my uncle 
had come to the close of his life I went to visit him. 
The night he died he had me called to his bedside, 
and while struggling for breath he said, ''I just 
want to say I am glad that thee loves to preach 
the Gospel. Be faithful to the end. " His close was 
triumphant. 



I30 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

Visit to Baltimore 

I find in an old diary I carried in my pocket the 
following entry, dated Tenth month 5, 1866: "This 
day I parted with my dear wife and children and 
departed on my intended journey to Baltimore and 
North Carolina Yearly Meetings, and the meetings 
and families belonging to them, as set forth in my 
minute already given." It was the year after the 
war, and the country was in an unsettled condition, 
especially in the South. No picture of the past lives 
more vividly in my mind than that of my wife, who, 
as the train pulled out that morning, was standing at 
the depot with our three children, the youngest in 
her arms and one on each side holding to her. She 
had eight miles to drive home alone. I stayed that 
night with William B. Johnson and his wife at 
Indianapolis. I quote the following from my diary: 
" In thus leaving home my mind was brought into a 
close trial and fervent are my desires that the Lord 
will be with me and preserve me. My dear wife felt 
the parting keenly, yet with a Christian spirit bade 
me go and do my Master's will, and I believe we can 
acknowledge with thankfulness that we were enabled 
in solemn prayer to commit each other into the 
watchful care of Israel's unslumbering shepherd. O 
Lord, keep me and preserve me from marring Thy 
glorious cause ; strengthen me to do Thy will, and 
if consistent therewith, grant that I may return to 
my family with the reward of peace. Amen." 

The next day I went to Richmond and attended 
Indiana Yearly Meeting, where I met with my 
parents and many of my friends. At the close of 
the yearly meeting I went to Uncle Thomas Jay's, at 



VISITING MEETINGS 131 

West Milton. Tenth month 12, 1866, we left his 
home, going to Dayton and there taking the train 
for Baltimore, by way of Bellefonte that we might 
attend that meeting, which belonged to Baltimore 
Yearly Meeting; also to Curwensville, where we 
visited the meeting and the families belonging to it. 
We also attended the Hicksite monthly meeting, 
having a good service and receiving a warm and cor- 
dial welcome. They insisted on reading our minutes 
and recording our attendance. We reached Balti- 
more Tenth month 20th, at midnight. Next morn- 
ing the Yearly Meeting of Ministers and Elders 
opened. Our home was with our dear friend, 
Richard M. Janney. It was a pleasant home and 
one that in coming days was to be a resting place 
for me, and to the members of his household I was 
to become closely attached. This was my first 
visit to Baltimore Yearly Meeting. It was an 
occasion of much interest. It was my first visit to 
Friends east of the Allegheny Mountains. To a 
young man brought up in the West, in a country 
home, it was an education and made an impression 
upon my mind, having something to do with shaping 
my future work. After years of close acquaintance 
with Baltimore Yearly Meeting, I am of the opinion 
that no yearly meeting of its size has done as much 
to mould the character of Quakerism in the Church 
in America as Baltimore. It was the first yearly 
meeting to open and establish another yearly meet- 
ing, which it did when Ohio was established by its 
authority in 181 3. Then Ohio set up Indiana in 
1 82 1. All the yearly meetings in the United States 
set up since that date have descended from Indiana 
Yearly Meeting. The yearly meeting proper opened 



132 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

on Tenth month 2 , and the following Friends were 
in attendance from other yearly meetings: Eli and 
Sybil Jones, William Beard, James E. Bailey, 
Daniel Hill, Thomas Jay, John B. Elliott, Daniel H. 
Hutchins, John Bean, Seneca Hazard, Samuel 
Heaton, Jesse Green and myself. The yearly meet- 
ing was a time of great favor. 

Fistt to North Carolina Yearly Meeting 

At the close we started to North Carolina Yearly 
Meeting, going by way of Richmond, Virginia, 
where we stopped at the home of John B. Crenshaw. 
As we drove through the city and out to his home, 
we saw the dire effects of the war. We were im- 
pressed by what we saw on every hand. Our dear 
friend and family were remarkably preserved during 
the conflict. Although their home stood within 
sight of the outside batteries erected for the defense 
of Richmond, yet no injuries came to them except 
the loss of some property. Our dear friend was 
engaged in relieying those in distress. He was often 
called upon to intercede in behalf of those who were 
conscripted and forced into the army, but who were 
entitled to be exempt on accoimt of their religious 
belief. Friends who were consistent members of the 
Society, members of the Dimkard Church and Men- 
nonites were all exempt. He told me that he never 
failed where he felt sure that the parties were con- 
sistent members of the church to which they 
belonged. In some instances he was fearful that the 
parties had joined in order to keep out of the army. 
That placed him in a close place, for the authorities 
threw the responsibility upon him to decide whether 
the applicants were really entitled to their freedom. 



VISITING MEETINGS 133 

There were so many of these cases that they re- 
quired much of his time, and in some cases there 
was much danger connected with securing their 
release. In one instance, about which he told me, 
he had, after great effort, secured the release of two 
young Friends who lived in North Carolina. It was 
late in the day and the battle was going on, these 
young men being in the trenches with their regiment 
around Petersburg. He secured a carriage and 
drove out to where the conflict was raging. It be- 
came very dark, but he pressed on until he had gone 
as far as he could with the carriage. He stopped 
with the prospect of waiting until morning. Then 
the thought arose, "Suppose these young men 
shotdd be killed during the night. Would I be 
clear?" After weighing the matter, he felt it right 
to go ahead, so leaving the horses and carriage with 
the driver, he started afoot through the trenches, 
inquiring for their regiment. After walking several 
miles through a heavy storm, with the roar of 
artillery around him and shot and shell flying about 
him, about one o'clock in the morning he found 
them, and, presenting his orders for their release to 
the oflficer in charge, they were turned over to him. 
He started back with them and reached the carriage 
about the time that the Federal troops made a 
charge upon the breastworks which their regiment 
was defending and carried it with great slaughter, 
capturing those who were not killed. He drove 
home, arriving safely. He told me of other similar 
instances. It was always interesting , to hear him 
tell his experiences with the Confederate Govern- 
ment, including President Jefferson Davis and the 
various members of the Cabinet, and with the 



134 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

generals and officers in the army. He often joined 
with the committees appointed by North CaroHna 
Yearly Meeting in going before Congress and the 
proper legislative authorities to secure proper laws 
upon freedom of conscience and other subjects that 
Friends were interested in. He was at one time a 
member of the Legislature of Virginia and endeav- 
ored to carry out the views of Friends on all occa- 
sions. It was a rule which he adopted to always 
rise and go out to attend a little Friends meeting 
when the hour arrived. One day, while sitting in 
one of these meetings, the room above the Legis- 
lative Hall (which I believe was a courtroom) was 
crowded so that the floor gave way and came down 
upon the members of the Legislature, so that several 
were killed and many woimded. His seat and desk 
were crushed to pieces by a heavy beam which fell 
across them. He felt this escape was a cause of 
great thankfulness. He also edited a little paper 
called The Southern Friend, dining the war, to keep 
up an interest among the members and to encourage 
faithfulness among those who were shut off from 
association and communication with their Northern 
friends. It no doubt did good. I have a part of 
one of the copies published while Sherman was 
marching through Georgia. While it w^ould be 
interesting to dwell upon the services of John B. 
Crenshaw and many other Friends who labored so 
faithfully during the war to uphold the cause of 
truth — and there were many of these silent heroes 
who let their light shine — yet I must hasten on. 

On First-day we attended meeting in the city, 
held at the home of Jane Whitlock, and in the after- 
noon and evening visited the work among the 



VISITING MEETINGS 135 

freedmen, under the care of Sarah F. Smiley and 
her faithful assistants. Then we went on to North 
Carolina Yearly Meeting by way of Black Creek and 
Somerton. The former place was where the Vir- 
ginia Half- Yearly Meeting was formerly located, but 
it is now held here and at Richmond alternately. 
From there we went on to Jamestown, North Caro- 
lina, which we reached Eleventh month 2, about 
midnight, and spent the remainder of the night at 
Dr. Coffin's. The next morning, Eleventh month 3, 
1866, we went to Deep River Meeting-house, where 
the Yearly Meeting of Ministers and Elders opened. 
It was a time of deep religious feeling. Much sym- 
pathy was felt and expressed with our dear Friends 
in their present situation, and they were encouraged 
to be faithful in the discharge of their duties. It 
was believed by those who spoke that there never 
was a time when the fields were more fully open for 
our beloved Society to labor in North Carolina. 
We went home that night with Jonathan Harris, 
and in the evening walked over to Daniel Barker's 
and had a religious opportunity with his interesting 
family. 

"Eleventh month 4. This was First-day, and 
we went to the old New Garden Meeting-house, 
where the yearly meeting has been held for many 
years. The meetings were large, both in the morn- 
ing and in the afternoon. The visitors boarded in 
the school building, and at night we had a chapter 
read in one of the schoolrooms and another good 
meeting was held, there being many young people 
present at these meetings. Eleventh month 5, 
1866. The yearly meeting proper opened this 
morning with Nereus Mendenhall as clerk. The 



136 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

following Friends were in attendance from other 
yearly meetings: Eli and Sybil Jones, William 
Beard, Pharaba Toms, Miriam Huff, James E. 
Bailey, Seneca Hazard, John B. Elliot, Daniel D. 
Barton, Alson R. Walls, Peter Osborn, Thomas Jay 
and myself, " all of whom have passed to the Beyond 
except the author. The yearly meeting continued 
until Sixth-day afternoon. " In reviewing this yearly 
meeting, I think it may be truly said that it was a 
time of real favor and that the business was con- 
ducted in unity and much love, some of the sessions 
being especially blessed. The one on the State of 
Society was a time of searching of hearts; the one 
when the Meeting for Sufferings reported the suffer- 
ings of Friends during the war and their faithfulness 
brought feelings of praise to God for the evidence of 
His protecting care. i\Iany instances of his loving 
care were brought to remembrance. Through it all, 
Friends who have been faithful have been kept and 
their lives have been spared. The evening meetings 
in the schoolroom were seasons of real spiritual 
awakening to many of the dear young people, 
several of whom have given their lives to God for 
His use, and I believe, if they are faithful, will be 
useful members of the Church." These words, 
written at the close of the yearly meeting forty-two 
years ago, I have lived to see more than realized. 
The years of my connection with North Carolina 
Yearly Meeting have been among the best of my 
life, and my prayer that day has been answered far 
beyond my fondest hope. My heart was knit to 
that people at the closing session as to no people 
before. Little did I know how closely we were to 
labor together for nine years in building up the 



VISITING MEETINGS 137 

waste places and making North Carolina Yearly 
Meeting, then having about 2,200 members, a light 
in that Southland and a bright example among the 
sisterhood of yearly meetings with nearly 7,000 
members, and that New Garden Boarding-School 
was to become Guilford College and take its place 
among the colleges of the South and stand in the 
foremost ranks of the Quaker colleges of our land. 
As I pen these lines, I thank my Heavenly Father 
that he has permitted me to have a little part in 
helping to answer these prayers of forty-two years 
ago, uttered in old New Garden Meeting-house, and 
for the fact that my life is richer and fuller because 
I have worked and labored in harmony with those 
men and women who composed North Carolina 
Yearly Meeting that day, also for the brightness 
and happiness that have come into my Christian life, 
as I have known and mingled with their children 
who are now leading North Carolina Yearly Meeting 
into new and wider fields of usefulness. "What 
hath God wrought!" It is marvelous in our eyes. 
Praise be unto His name. 

The Peace Conference in Baltimore 

At the close of the yearly meeting my uncle, 
Thomas Jay, went to Rich Square, in the limits of 
Eastern Quarter, to continue the work which we had 
begun, while I turned aside for a little time to attend 
a conference held in Baltimore on the subject of 
Peace. This conference was composed of delegates 
from the different yearly meetings and began 
Eleventh month 14, 1866, at the invitation of Balti- 
more Yearly Meeting. It resulted in the organiza- 
tion afterwards of the Peace Association of Friends 



138 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

of America, which has been kept up ever since and 
is now located in Richmond, Indiana. My memory 
is that the subject was first mentioned in Ohio 
Yearly Meeting by Jesse Green, one of its members, 
which resulted in that yearly meeting calling the 
attention of the other yearly meetings to the matter. 
In their epistles to the American yearly meetings, 
Baltimore went so far as to propose that each yearly 
meeting appoint delegates to such a conference, to 
meet in that city on Fourth-day following North 
Carolina Yearly Meeting. Having been appointed 
by Western Yearly Meeting, I returned to Balti- 
more from New Garden, in company with Dr. 
William Nicholson, and attended the meeting in 
Baltimore and one at Deer Creek in Maryland, and 
was present at the opening of the peace conference 
in the old Friends meeting-house. The following 
delegates were present : From New England, Samuel 
Boyce, John Page, William C. Tabor, Joseph Cart- 
land; from New York, Jonathan DeVol, William 
H. Case, Benjamin Tatham, Robert Lindley Murray, 
Samuel Heaton and Jesse P. Haines; from Balti- 
more, Francis T. King, James Carey, Dr. James C. 
Thomas, John Scott, John B. Crenshaw, Richard M. 
Janney and Jesse Tyson; Ohio, John Butler, Jesse 
Green, William H. Ladd, Ezra Catell ; from Indiana, 
Charles F. Coffin, Levi Jessup, Francis W. Thomas, 
Isaac P. Evans, Daniel Hill and Murray Shipley; 
Western, Nathan Elliot, Dr. James Kersey, Barna- 
bas C. Hobbs, Dr. Dougan Clark and Allen Jay; 
North Carolina, Isham Cox, John Parker, Seth 
Barker, Allan U. Tomlinson and Dr. William Nichol- 
son; Iowa, Joseph D. Hoage, Jeremiah A. Grinnell 
and James Owen. In addition to these, there were 



VISITING MEETINGS 139 

from Philadelphia, John M. Whitall, George W. 
Taylor and Samuel Rhodes. All of these were 
present, except five, and all of the forty-three have 
passed away except Charles F. Coffin and myself. 
After a season of worship, during which vocal prayer 
was offered, the conference was organized by ap- 
pointing Francis T. King clerk, and Dr. Dougan 
Clark, assistant. The first subject under consider- 
ation was our duty towards our own members, which 
occupied the first sitting. We then adjourned until 
3.30 o'clock. At this session a committee was 
appointed to draft an address to our own member- 
ship for the purpose of stirring them up to more 
faithfulness in maintaining our well-known views 
on this important doctrine. We met again at 9 
o'clock next morning, and, after a long and full 
discussion, a large committee was appointed to 
draft an address to the professors of religion of all 
denominations. Another session was held at 3.30 
that afternoon, at which a discussion took place on 
the question of how far we could seek the co-opera- 
tion of other religious denominations. It was finally 
decided to ask them to labor in their own appropriate 
channels for the advancement of the cause. At the 
meeting the next day the address to our member- 
ship was adopted, and the address to the other 
religious denominations was left in the hands of a 
judicious committee to be prepared and presented 
at a future meeting to be held some time the fol- 
lowing year. The conference also recommended 
to the different yearly meetings to appoint standing 
committees on the subject of Peace, who should 
labor in subordinate meetings and among individ- 
duals, and hold meetings and give lectures among 



I40 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

Friends and others. After some minor matters 
were attended to, the first peace conference ad- 
journed, to meet at the call of a special committee 
the next year. Dr. Nicholson and I took the boat 
that night for Norfolk and were met at Suffolk the 
next morning and driven to Belvidere, which we 
reached the following evening, and where I again 
met with my dear uncle. 



Chapter XVI 

VISITING FRIENDS IN NORTH CAROLINA 
AND TENNESSEE 

Again we began the work of visiting meetings, 
families and schools as we came to them. Our 
course was towards western North Carolina, and 
from there across the m.ountains into Tennessee, 
the work to be finished in that State. In taking 
this course we were following in the tracks of 
Johnston's and Sherman's armies, from Goldsboro 
to Greensboro, the former retreating and the latter 
pursuing him. We had a good opportunity to see 
the devastating effect of war. It was in a Friends 
neighborhood that the last battle between Johnston 
and Sherman was fought, near Bentonsville, North 
Carolina. Our dear friend William Cox's house was 
situated in the midst of the conflict. The effect of 
the bullets upon the house was plainly to be seen. 
None of the family was hurt, as they quietly 
remained inside. But it is not my purpose to dwell 
upon the subject of the war or the sufferings of 
Friends, for that has been told by others. Mine is 
to tell of what we found and what we tried to do. 
I covld fill voltmies in relating the stories told us as 
we went into the homes. Many nights after a hard 
day's work we would listen until a late hour to these 
facts which at that time were fresh in the minds of 
all, and the evidence of their truth was to be seen 

(141) 



142 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

on every hand. One dear Friend, near Goldsboro, 
told how Johnston's men first, and then Sherman's 
following, took their horses and cattle, cleared 
up their chickens, indeed did not leave anything 
alive on the farm, besides the members of the family, 
except a setting hen which was hidden under the 
barn. The soldiers would take the sheets and the 
linen bedclothes; would rip open one end of a bed- 
tick, take hold of the other and run down stairs 
through the house and into the yard, scattering the 
feathers everywhere in a spirit of wanton destruc- 
tion. Everything that could be eaten was destroyed 
or carried away. Several years after this, sitting 
by the bedside of a dying soldier in Indiana, he 
brought up this circumstance and what happened 
in this home, and the part that he took in it. He 
spoke of the Christian spirit manifested by those 
dear Friends, of the father, the mother, the three 
children, and then added, ''Oh, I wish I could see 
them and ask their forgiveness for the part I took 
in destroying their home!" When I told him I 
knew them well and had often partaken of their 
hospitality, that they were prospering, and that the 
children had grown up lovely Christians, he begged 
that I would bear his dying request that they would 
forgive him, and his prayer that they might meet 
in Heaven. All of this I 'have carefully done. But, 
as I have said, I leave these unpleasant things and 
pass on to our mission. It was ours to go from 
house to house and bear the message of love and 
encouragement to those noble men and women who 
had silently and faithfully borne their testimony to 
the cause of peace. One thing impressed me day 
after day, in going from one home to another and 



VISITING FRIENDS 143 

from one meeting to another — that I was in the 
midst of a people who, without noise or any great 
flourish of trumpets, had fought and won a silent 
yet glorious victory, for "they endured as seeing 
Him who is invisible," and as we listened to the 
pitiful stories of their trials, privations and persecu- 
tions, we felt that we were among a people who 
believed in God, a people who had walked through 
the fiery furnace unconscious that "One like unto 
the Son of Man was with them." They had come 
out " without the smell of fire upon their garments." 
We listened to the mothers and sisters telling of 
plowing and carrying on the work of the farm, while 
the husbands, fathers and sons were hidden in the 
woods and caves that they might keep out of the 
army, or had passed through the lines to the North 
in order that they might not be forced to fight. I 
remember young men telling how hard it was for 
them, from their hiding-places on the mountains, 
to see their mothers toiling in the fields for their 
support. In one instance, one of these young men 
went home, dressed in his mother's clothes and took 
her place in the field for three days while she rested. 
Women would suffer severe punishment rather than 
tell where their loved ones were hiding. Day after 
day we would listen to these simple narratives, 
often told because we drew them out by questions, 
not because they thought they had done any great 
thing. They appeared little to realize that they 
had been making history that would place them in 
the list of God's heroes; that they were sowing the 
seed that would build up his kingdom on earth again. 
While others had closed their places of worship in 
the country, they had kept up their meetings for 



144 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

worship on First-day and in the middle of the week — 
meetings held often in silence, yet always a bright 
example of their devotion to their profession and 
duty to God. They had heard the voice of God and 
were faithful to His will; men and women who 
knew more of God than some whom I have since met 
who make a much louder profession, talk more about 
doctrine, and dwell much upon orthodoxy and 
religious belief. Here were those who heard His 
voice and followed as He led the way, and were 
"kept in perfect peace" because their minds were 
''stayed upon Him." So we continued our work, 
making use of the time. When we reached Spring- 
field Meeting, located near what was called Bush 
Hill, now Archdale, North Carolina, we found Joseph 
Moore, who was at that time superintendent of the 
Baltimore Association work. This was an organiza- 
tion formed in Baltimore at the close of the war 
called "The Baltimore Association of Friends, to 
Advise and Assist Friends in the Southern States." 
Richard M. Janney, John Scott and Sarah F. 
Smiley were sent down at first by this association 
to help relieve the immediate need, but the work 
was afterwards put under the entire control of 
Joseph Moore. We were glad to meet him and 
strengthen his hands in the good work, but it is my 
purpose to speak more of this in a short time when, 
in the providence of God, I came to take the place 
he then occupied. We passed on westward, visiting 
the meetings up among the mountains in western 
North Carolina, then crossed over into eastern 
Tennessee, going to New Hope Meeting first, then 
down to Lost Creek, across the Holston River to 
Maryville and so on to Friendsville, where William 



VISITING FRIENDS 145 

Forster, of England, who was buried in the grave- 
yard here in 1854, laid down his life while engaged 
as a member of a delegation appointed by London 
Yearly Meeting to present a communication on the 
subject of slavery, addressed by that yearly meeting, 
to the President of the United States and to the 
Governor of each State. After reaching Friends- 
ville I learned of a settlement some four or five miles 
distant where there had once been a Friends 
meeting, but which had gone down. The last 
meeting held in the old meeting-house, the roof of 
which had now fallen in, had been held by William 
Forster some thirteen years before. There were 
some ten or twelve members scattered among the 
hills, often only one in a family. So, First month 1 5 , 
1867, on horseback, with a Friend on another horse 
for a guide, we started soon after daylight, rode over 
twenty miles during the day and visited ten homes. 
Soon after beginning, the word got circulated in the 
woods that a preacher was holding meetings in the 
homes where there was a Friend. After that we had 
a company in each house when we reached there. 
While eating dinner at John B. Jones's, I felt it 
right to appoint a meeting that night for the people 
in that community. He freely offered his house, 
a two-roomed one, with a door between. His wife, 
though a Presbyterian, very cordially joined with 
him in granting the home. When we reached there 
at meeting time, both rooms were full, people stand- 
ing and sitting on the floor. I took my position in 
the door between the two rooms and for an hour or 
more was engaged in exposition and prayer. Soon 
after this a new meeting-house was built and a 
meeting established, and in a short time a monthly 
10 



146 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

meeting was opened, called Hickory Valley. I be- 
lieve that day's work was owned and blessed by the 
Lord. After the meeting, I rode two miles to 
Joseph Bales' s, a Friend who had long been confined 
to the house, and did what I could to encourage him 
and his family before leaving them. The next day 
I visited families and reached Francis Hackney's 
in the evening, where I found my uncle and our dear 
friends, Joseph Moore and Isham Cox. We all went 
to meeting First-day and had a large and favored 
meeting. I visited families that afternoon, and on 
First month 17, awoke very early and felt clearly 
the command to return home, which was a joyful 
message. When Uncle awoke, in a few minutes he 
said, "Allen, I am ready to go home." We started 
that day, and I was favored to reach my home on 
the afternoon of the 19th, when the wisdom of 
returning was made plain. I found our little boy, 
fifteen months old, very sick. We were united in 
returning thanks to our Heavenly Father for His 
watchful care over us and our loved ones during our 
separation of one hundred and seven days. Thus 
ended my first visit to North Carolina Yearly Meet- 
ing, which was soon to become the field of several 
years' work. 



Chapter XVII 

THE CALL TO THE WORK OF THE 
BALTIMORE ASSOCIATION 

I now settled down to farm life, which was min- 
gled with a few visits of a religious character of more 
or less importance. The next winter I obtained a 
minute to visit families of those within the limits of 
our meeting and surrounding neighborhood who were 
not Friends, and held some meetings among them. 
Early in 1868, in company with my dear wife, I vis- 
ited the meetings of Indiana Yearly Meeting, located 
within the States of Ohio and Indiana. Returning 
from this service, the summer was occupied in rais- 
ing a crop. One day, after harvest, while finishing 
"laying by" some late com, my wife came to the 
field, saying, "Here is a letter from Baltimore." I 
asked her to read it while I sat on the plow to rest. 
It was from Francis T. King and began by saying, 
" We have just had a meeting of the Baltimore Asso- 
ciation of Friends to Assist and Advise Friends of 
the Southern States, and at the earnest request of 
many Friends in North Carolina, we are united in 
appointing thee our superintendent, to take the place 
of Joseph Moore, who has resigned in order to return 
to his place as president of Earlham College." He 
then went on to tell how much they would pay and 
what they would provide for myself and family if 
we would come for one year, and closed by saying, 
* ' We want an answer by return mail . ' ' The p roposi- 

(147) 



148 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

tion was entirely unexpected. We sat in silence a 
few minutes. I then rose and, turning my horses 
round, proceeded to finish my plowing, then went to 
the bam and occupied the rest of the day in putting 
away my farming utensils where they belonged. 
That evening we did not mention the subject, neither 
the next day. It being First-day, we went to school 
and meeting, spent the afternoon with my wife's par- 
ents, and upon returning home that evening the same 
silence was maintained on that subject, each waiting 
for the other to work it out. On Second-day morn- 
ing, after breakfast, I remarked, " I must now answer 
F. T. King's letter. What shall I say.?" My wife 
simply replied, " I expect we will go, " and went out 
to wash the dishes. I went to the desk and wrote an 
answer, saying we would accept if they should fur- 
nish a cow in addition to what they had already 
promised. In a few days I had an answer saying, 
"We accept thy proposition. Thou art oiur man. 
Go to Iowa Yearly Meeting and secure all the ftinds 
thou canst for the work. I have written to the 
Friends there to give thee an opportunity during the 
yearly meeting." In two days I reached there, a 
stranger and very much depressed with the thought 
of making a public appeal, which was not made 
lighter by the fact that I could see that they did not 
want the appeal to be made. The yearly meeting 
was new, it being the third one that they had held. 
The country was new and they had not yet paid for 
their house. They told me plainly that they felt 
they had their hands full, but as Francis T. King 
had helped them financially in their educational 
work, perhaps it would be best to grant me a little 
time. So one evening I was informed that I might 



CALL TO BALTIMORE ASSOCIATION 149 

have fifteen minutes the next morning. I was 
frightened and laid awake the most of the night to 
prepare a fifteen-minute talk. It doesn't take much 
thought to talk an hour, but to say something in 
fifteen minutes requires much preparation. The 
hour came. The house was full. There sat before 
me men who had fathers and mothers, brothers and 
sisters and dear relatives in the old North State and 
in Tennessee, who had gone through the horrors of 
war, whom they did not hear from for four long 
years, and I had been in their homes and heard of 
their sufferings. I was full of these tales of sorrow. 
Joel Bean, who was clerk, like a Christian gentleman 
as he has always been, politely introduced the 
subject and said that they were very busy, but 
thought best to give me fifteen minutes. I rose 
trembling all over and so frightened that I did not 
remember anything that I had made up to say, but 
plimged into the subject and did not stop for nearly 
an hour. When I sat down there was weeping all 
over the house. James Owen rose at once and pro- 
posed that I shoiild go upstairs and lay the matter 
before the women's meeting. A messenger came 
back soon, saying that they would give me a few 
minutes ; so with an escort I went up, was introduced 
by the clerk, Hannah Bean, with the reminder that 
time was precious. When the few minutes were out 
many were wiping their eyes; so I spoke forty-five 
minutes, and then they entered into a collection, 
and when I went downstairs I had four hundred 
dollars in my hat. They reported that they had 
raised one thousand dollars among the men while 
I was upstairs. I slept well that night. That was 
the beginning of my public solicitations in raising 



I50 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

money, but it has not been my last. At the close of 
the yearly meeting I returned home and in three 
weeks we were on our way, moving to North Carolina. 
We had left our farm and everything on it under the 
care of a man and his wife, expecting to return in one 
year, but we have never done so. God has led, I 
believe, in another way. After we had been in the 
South two years my parents came down to see us 
and to attend the yearly meeting. My father went 
with me for a few weeks, seeing the work. He then 
said, " We would be glad to have you back in Indiana, 
but thee is engaged in a work here that thee must 
not leave. Better let me go home and make a sale 
and close up thy affairs in Indiana. " Next morning 
we had an offer for the farm which was better than 
we expected. We made the deed and father wound 
up the affairs at the old home. 

When we reached North Carolina, the house we 
were going to move into was being repaired. It was 
located on a lot joining old Springfield Meeting- 
house. There was a good sized school-house on the 
meeting-house grounds, and we had taken a teacher 
with us from Indiana, Deborah Steere, who was a 
graduate of Earlham College and one of the best 
teachers I ever knew. She remained with us for 
three years, living in our home, and then, after a 
year's rest, I arranged for her to take charge of the 
school at Friendsville, Tennessee, which was a school 
of some note. It had been assisted by English 
Friends in building and getting started. Deborah 
Steere is now the wife of Samuel Howell, ocated at 
Selma, Ohio. She was assisted at Friendsville by 
William Clark, the present editor of St. Nicholas, in 
New York. 



CALL TO BALTIMORE ASSOCIATION 151 

We went to the home of Allen U. Tomlinson, 
where we remained until our house was ready. This 
man deserves more than a passing notice. He sat at 
the head of Springfield Meeting, lived at Bush Hill, 
now called Archdale, had a tanyard, a shoe shop, a 
harness shop and a store. He was an enterprising 
man in business, educational work and church work. 
Two of his sons have graduated at Haverford Col- 
lege and were teachers of ability, being employed by 
our association. Another was a practicing physi- 
cian. Allen U. Tomlinson had been superintendent 
of the First-day school for forty years. In connec- 
tion with Nathan Hunt, Mahlon Hockett and other 
worthy Friends, he had made Springfield Meeting 
one of the leading meetings in the yearly meeting. 
He was interested in the success of New Garden 
Boarding-School and educational work generally, 
and was a member of the committee appointed by 
North Carolina Yearly Meeting to counsel and advise 
with the Baltimore Association in their work. Just 
before the surrender of Johnston at Greensboro, one 
corps of his army was located at Bush Hill. The 
leading generals had their headquarters in his home. 
At night they placed a guard around the house and 
bolted all the doors. He objected to the guard and 
unbolted the doors. It appeared later that the 
wives of the generals were afraid of their own soldiers, 
as they were poorly fed and clothed and had received 
but little pay and felt that their cause was lost. But 
the Friends were preserved and went on with their 
duties. They held their quarterly meeting as usual, 
while the army lay around the meeting-house not 
knowing how soon they might hear the roar of the 
cannon opening another bloody battle. But the 



152 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

next day they learned that Johnston and Sherman 
had tried to negotiate the terms of a surrender, which 
was soon accomplished, and the poor, weary Con- 
federate soldiers received their small pay, laid down 
their arms and returned to their sad and, in many 
cases, destitute homes. It was a happy day for our 
Friends in the South. 

Now, having told of our call and location in the 
South, I purpose to give some account of the 
organization of "The Baltimore Association of 
Friends to Assist and Advise the Friends in the 
Southern States." But before doing so, I wish to 
introduce a chapter written by my dear friend, Mary 
Mendenhall Hobbs, at my request, as an introduc- 
tion, showing the need for such work and the wisdom 
required in carrying it forward. This chapter has 
been written by one who went through these dark 
days, a daughter of Dr. Nereus Mendenhall, a lead- 
ing Friend in North Carolina Yearly Meeting, one 
who remained in the yearly meeting from a sense of 
duty and whose labor was abundantly blessed to indi- 
viduals and to the Church. She has told the story 
as few could. Many will be glad to read it. 



Chapter XVIII 

CONDITIONS IN CAROLINA AT THE 
CLOSE OF THE CIVIL WAR 

BY MARY MENDENHALL HOBBS 

As a background for the work of the Baltimore 
Association, Allen Jay has asked me to give Friends 
a glimpse of the condition which existed here at the 
close of the Civil War. 

I was a little girl in those days, and much which 
would now be of deep interest was either unknown 
to me or but dimly comprehended. So far as I 
know there are no records of these things, aside from 
the allusions in histories and books of fiction. Our 
minutes are very chary in their references to actual 
conditions, and being unconscious of the fact that 
they were making history in their daily lives, the 
Friends moved on in the even tenor of their way, 
doing the things nearest them, facing circumstances 
as best they could, with no thought of preserving 
records of events. 

I well remember the anxiety and distress which 
was everywhere in our part of the land, and how we 
had become so accustomed to lives of privation and 
care that it seemed impossible to imagine ourselves 
released from apprehension and dread. Our com- 
munity perhaps suffered less than many others, ow- 
ing to the fact that we were not in the line of march 
of either army, and being, in the main, a settlement 

(153) 



154 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

of Friends, not many of the men in our neighborhood 
served in the ranks. Many had fied from home and 
had either escaped through the Hnes to prevent being 
conscripted and forced into the Southern army or 
had "bushwhacked" through the period, which 
meant that they dwelt in caves and hollow trees and 
slept in bams and outhouses or crept secretly into 
their own or the houses of kindly disposed neighbors, 
never daring to be seen about their premises or 
attending to any business. Even if the conscript 
hunters, who were always roaming about, did not 
see them, some unfriendly person might report 
them and they be trapped. 

At the close of the war such as had been able to 
survive returned to find ever3rthing impoverished 
— ^horses gone, cattle, if any, poor; the merest pre- 
tense at farming going on, tools worn out and anti- 
quated, harness mostly ropes, vehicles in the last 
stages of " the one-horse shay. " The buildings were 
dilapidated, roofs leaking, windows pasted up with 
paper or cloth, hinges broken, fences gone — burned 
up in many cases for wood, in many instances 
houses and property destroyed by fire. Eastern 
Carolina suffered more than we, because the South- 
ern army destroyed as it went, and the Northern 
army, even after the country had surrendered, in 
pure wantonness burned buildings for spite. 

Those left at home had battled along as best they 
could. Many women were left with families of 
small children and almost no resources for their sup- 
port. Such had been assisted by their neighbors and 
relatives as far as possible. We learned to do with 
little and to live on corn bread, which was more 
easily provided than wheat. We could no more get 



CLOSE OF THE CIVIL WAR 155 

coffee, sugar or tea than we could get papers from 
" beyond the Hnes, " and those who had these articles 
on hand saved them for sick people. We drank hot 
water tea sweetened with sorghum, and made coffee 
of parched wheat and dried sweet potatoes, which 
was a great deal better than many modern substi- 
tutes for coffee. We were almost all upon the same 
level and were in what we should now consider very 
straitened circumstances, but, so far as I remember, 
were always ready to give each other such aid as was 
in our power. 

Little boys with the assistance of their mothers 
and sisters had been obliged to do what farm work 
was done. There were no stores, and nothing to buy 
goods with if there had been. We were all clothed 
in homespun cloth, which had the redeeming quality 
of lasting a long time. Our shoes were of the 
coarsest leather, made from the skins of animals 
butchered on the farms and the hides carried to some 
near or far tanyard and there tanned for a toll of 
one-half. The shoes, which were not "Queen Qual- 
ity, " were made by a neighborhood cobbler, and we 
were as delighted with a new pair of these as children 
nowadays are with the finest. Stockings were made 
from yarn spun and knit at home, from the wool 
of the few sheep which almost every family kept. 

I remember that lights were quite an item, and 
sometimes we could not get tallow to make candles, 
which we did in "moulds" which were borrowed by 
the whole community. As father was a great reader, 
he always made a special effort to procure tallow 
and wax for his candles, but sometimes he failed 
and we had to resort to a queer little grease lamp 
with a wick which hung out of a little spout. This 



156 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

was beyond his ability to manage, and he gave up 
his books for the time being. Generally, people sat 
by the firelight. I recall that the first purchase 
father made " after the surrender" was a good lamp, 
and with what delight and enthusiasm we children 
welcomed it into oiu* home. Previous to the war we 
used what was called a "fimd lamp," but during 
the war we could not secure the "fluid," whatever 
it may have been. 

Our roads are none of the best now, but at the 
close of the war they were well-nigh impassable. We 
have many streams and the bridges had almost all 
gone to wreck or been washed away by "the big 
freshet" which preceded the close of the war. In 
this Piedmont section the streams rise suddenly, 
owing to heavy rains near the sources, and since all 
had to be forded this often caused great inconven- 
ience. I recall the fact that at the time of the 
siurender a near relative of my mother was dying 
at the home of Aunt Delphina E. Mendenhall and 
she could not get to the place, although it was not 
very far away. 

The household furnishings were in as dilapidated 
a condition as the farm tools. There had been a 
constant wear and tear, with no opportunity to re- 
place or repair. "It will do" had come to be the 
verdict, and anything which would do was made to 
do, had to be ; and this attitude was a mental factor 
which had to be dealt with. During the war if any 
of our cooking utensils or table-ware were broken, 
we had to do without these necessaries. Black- 
smiths did make knives and forks sometimes, and for 
plates, if worse came to worst, we could use tin pans 
or earthen dishes; for there were some rude potter- 



CLOSE OF THE CIVIL WAR 157 

ies which made many useftil articles, amongst others 
a little stew kettle which we could set on the coals 
on the hearth and cook our apples or dried fruit. 
The women dried all the fruit they could, and dried 
cherries cooked in sorghum tasted as good then as 
Heinz' s dainties do now. Sorghum was raised gen- 
erally and made into molasses. Chickens, turkeys 
and guineas were raised, and gardens were planted 
and worked by the women and children, who were 
obliged also to make, as well as weave, the clothes 
for the family. 

It may be remarked that since the war lasted only 
four years it would seem possible that people might 
have had on hand materials to satisfy their needs for 
so short a period. No Joseph had arisen to warn of 
the coming danger ; and while there had been an ap- 
prehension of the evil days, no one knew exactly 
when or how they would come. The Friends were 
a simple, rural people, depending largely upon their 
own labor on the farms for their sustenance. Such 
money as had been saved was lost, and stored pro- 
visions were more likely to feed the army than those 
for whom it was provided, as there were foragers all 
the time seeking for food and provender who un- 
hesitatingly carried off what they could find. 

Our ** Sunday clothes" were made and remade 
out of the old dresses of our mothers and aunts, but 
their old shoes were not so pliable; so we would 
appear in a pretty old faded muslin dress and shoes 
as coarse as brogans. 

Some young ladies in the community acquired 
great skill in plaiting straw, which they made into 
neat little hats, and old bonnets and hats were made 
over and worn and worn. I know we looked like 



158 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

composites of all styles and ages to those dear 
Friends who came first after the close of the war, 
but they looked marvelous to us, too. I never shall 
forget how their finery impressed me far more than 
their messages. I could not remember how people 
dressed before the war and no silk dresses were on 
parade anywhere during that period. There must 
have been many packed away, but they did not come 
forth ; and to suddenly behold people, actually folks, 
sailing around in silks and satins and wonderful soft 
shawls and kid gloves and silk hats and all was as 
much of a spectacle to my eyes as I could have been 
to them. When you have no opportimity to buy 
anything, your wits become active and you invent 
fashions adapted to the quantity of material. The 
war seemed interminable and ages long. The only 
new thing which I remember as being bought for me 
was a new toothbrush — father bought us each one 
and paid $4.00 apiece for them in "Confederate 
paper, " as he called it ; he never would call it money. 
As soon as the war was over the Yankees flocked in 
and put up stores, but we had nothing but "paper" 
to buy with. Debts had been paid either in Con- 
federate money or State bank notes, and both were 
alike useless. 

Some schools had been kept up a part of the time 
in different places and New Garden Boarding-School 
had never been closed. I have seen it stated that 
the trustees kept this school from closing. They 
were trying to close it, as I understand, but decided 
to allow Jonathan E. Cox to run it upon his own 
responsibility. For a time he did this and employed 
the teachers himself; and, if I mistake not, it was 
under this arrangement that my father came for the 




ELIHU E. ^lENDEXHALL. 



CLOSE OF THE CIVIL WAR 159 

third time to the school. John R. Hubbard had re- 
signed and gone West and father was sent for to take 
charge. There were so many changes constantly 
going on, and there is such an imperfect record to 
draw upon, that it is difficult for one who but faintly 
comprehended matters to say why things happened 
as they did; but after teaching in the boarding- 
school for a while some new arrangement left father 
at liberty, and he went over to Jamestown, and there, 
at Flint Hill Academy, conducted a fine school, to 
which several pupils from a distance came. The 
family remained at New Garden, living in the farm 
house whither they had been removed from the 
charming little home in Florence, North Carolina, 
situated within the limits of Deep River Meeting, to 
which the Mendenhalls had belonged for more than 
a century. 

Another change, I cannot say what, returned 
father to the boarding school. This time, if I re- 
member correctly, he and Jonathan E. Cox took 
the school jointly. Father was to teach for the tui- 
tion of the boys and such girls as studied any of the 
languages, and Jonathan E. Cox was to operate the 
boarding department. 

About this time, or perhaps previous to it, 
father's brother-in-law. Dr. Nathan B. Hill, deter- 
mined to move to the West, and he persuaded father 
that it would be best for us to go also. The school 
was very full and there were several young men here 
rather in hiding to keep out of the army. If father 
left, the school would have to be closed, and he was 
in a very great strait as to what was his duty. Every 
instinct for the safety of his family urged him to 
go, but the responsibility for the meeting and the 



i6o AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

school called him to stay. Our trunks and boxes had 
already been sent to the station and we were ready to 
follow, when, with tears streaming down his face, 
he told mother he could not feel clear to go, and she 
told him to send for the things and remain. 

Our property had been sold and was gone, but 
mother gathered articles as she could and soon had a 
comfortable abiding place arranged ; and father went 
to the old school-room and remained through all the 
distress and perplexity of the time, true to his con- 
victions. 

The boys ' school was full, and as they nearly all 
paid their bills in provisions, we had stores of flour 
and meat and corn and molasses — more than we had 
places to keep or knew where to hide ; for it had to 
be hidden. I remember that one boy paid his tuition 
in gold dust which he had washed out of the sand in 
a creek near his home, but that was all the gold I 
saw during the war. 

The task of keeping the school was difflcult and 
unremunerative from a money standpoint, as the 
charge for tuition was small, and in a way it was 
unappreciated self-sacrifice ; but he did the thing he 
determined to do and without doubt was instru- 
mental in saving the school. 

This is somewhat of a retrogression, but it ex- 
plains a situation which is not always understood. 

Our meetings had been kept up better than one 
would think possible. All of the yearly meetings had 
been held. John B. Crenshaw, of Richmond, Va., 
had visited us and gave us great encouragement and 
cheer. He, too, edited a paper called The Southern 
Friend, which was very refreshing in those troublous 
times when nothing in the shape of the magazines 



CLOSE OF THE CIVIL WAR i6i 

and papers to which we had been accustomed could 
be obtained. I heard some Friends from the West 
call it "a rebel sheet" and rejoice that it had been 
discontinued. But it was not a rebel sheet. It was 
a good, clean, wholesome little paper, started and 
kept going to help to hold the breath of life in us 
while we were being battered about. Joseph Neave 
threaded his way through the lines and was one of 
the most welcome visitors who ever crossed a Quaker 
threshold. 

There is much of interest, to one who can fill in 
between the lines, contained in the yearly meeting 
minutes of those four years, but the reading between 
the lines is necessary, because they did not record his- 
torical fact so much as spiritual needs and conditions. 
In i860, just previous to the outbreak of war, occurs 
this bit of warning in the Minute of Advice, which 
shows that Friends were feeling the effect of the gen- 
eral exodus : " It is to be feared that some have their 
minds so much set on moving away from this part 
of the land that they are neglecting their proper 
duties. Whatever may be right for us in this respect 
may we not forget that there is an emigration for us 
all, and endeavor so to walk that when the period for 
it arrives it may indeed be to a better country — that 
is, to a heavenly; and though a voice be heard in 
Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping, Rachel 
weeping for her children, the encouraging language 
still remains: 'Be thou faithful unto death and I will 
give thee a crown of life.' Let us wait upon the 
Lord and we shall experience that renewal of strength 
which is so much needed not for ourselves only, but 
that we may be instrumental in encouraging others 
both by example and precept and so far as may be 
11 



1 62 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

building up the waste places. And even if we do not 
succeed there is no condemnation to the faithful, the 
language to him being, 'Let alone, he hath done 
what he could.' " 

When I remember how they stood their ground 
and braved everything and never once thought of 
themselves as heroes, I cannot restrain the tears; 
and, when I recall how they divided their stores and 
fed the hungry and clothed the naked and took the 
wayfarer in out of the cold and gave of what they 
had, I know that they were of the faithful to whom 
God has said "Well done." 

At two homes within a mile of Guilford College, 
poor, distressed Yankee soldiers who had escaped 
from prison were tenderly cared for, and the physi- 
cian secretly conveyed to them, from whom they re- 
ceived every care ; but nothing could save them, and 
they rest in our burying ground where British sol- 
diers of the Revolution sleep, together with hundreds 
of our own people who were enlisted under the ban- 
ner of the Prince of Peace. 

The meetings and family worship, which we were 
more faithful to keep up than we are now in more 
prosperous times, kept us together; and, although 
at the close of the war our property was gone and 
we ourselves in rather a forlorn condition, we did 
not entirely give up to discoiu-agement, but went to 
work to gather up the pieces that remained. Our 
work of recuperation would have been slow, and 
most likely we should have been beaten in the fight, 
had it not been for Francis T. King and the Balti- 
more Association. The tide of emigration which had 
been started before the war now rose to an appalling 
magnitude. The following quotation from the first 



CLOSE OF THE CIVIL WAR 163 

annual report of the Baltimore Association will give 
an idea of what was going on: ''During the spring 
and summer of 1865, directly after Sherman's 
march, two of our number twice visited North Caro- 
lina to distribute provisions, clothing and money, 
and during that year we forwarded to the West about 
400 members, adults and children, 50 of whom ar- 
rived here destitute at one time. Though we dis- 
couraged this emigration, we could not wonder at it, 
as they fled to escape the ravages of war to join rela- 
tives who had prospered in the West, and who gave 
them cordial welcomes." Our people left by car 
loads, and we were in danger of being depopulated 
so far as Quakerism was concerned. 

Francis T. King came here and investigated the 
whole situation and decided in his own mind that it 
was better for the people to remain here upon farms 
which they still owned and begin anew to build for 
themselves rather than to seek homes in the West, 
to obtain which they would necessarily have to en- 
cumber themselves with debt. He was a seer in the 
broad sense of the term. I distinctly remember 
hearing him in our own home argue this point with 
Addison Coffin, who was at that time running emi- 
grant trains to the West. Francis wanted the people 
to stay here and Addison believed they would be 
better off on the more fertile land of the West. To 
stay this tide of emigration, the Baltimore Associa- 
tion was formed, and to its beneficent work the 
yearly meeting is indebted to-day for its existence. 

It is difficult to ascertain how many Friends there 
were in North Carolina at the opening of the war. 
In one of their memorials they say, "The entire 
number in the whole South does not exceed 5,000." 



1 64 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

Whether this included Baltimore I cannot say, but I 
presume it did. There were not many in Virgina. 
They seem to have kept no statistical records except 
as connected with the use of intoxicants. A yearly 
report of this matter is made under the heads of 
"Clear Members," "Who Use It," "Not Inquired 
Of." These we infer to have been adult members. 
In i860 there were 1,361 clear. Use it, 81. Not 
inquired of, 71. Total, 1,513. In 1864, clear, 
1,573. Us^ i^» i^- No"^ inquired of, 81. Total, 
1,677. In 1865, clear, 1,659. Use it, 60. Not in- 
quired of, 77. Total, 1,796. Hence it wotdd ap- 
pear that in spite of the fact that we know hundreds 
left the State during the war, we had more members 
than at the beginning. In 1866 we began counting 
children, and our spirituous liquor report is as fol- 
lows: Clear, 1,957. Use it, 53. Not inquired of, 
75. Children between 5 and 18, 840; and next year 
the number of children is given as 998. 

While this is not, as we know, an accurate ac- 
count, it is the best I have been able so far to find 
and will serve as a kind of working basis for what the 
Baltimore Association began with. 

These were situated in seven quarters — 

Eastern, in the extreme east, on the Atlantic 
coast. 

Contentnea, embracing meetings situated in 
Wayne County, in the middle of the State, below the 
fall line. 

Western, in central Carolina, toward the south. 

Southern, still further to the west and south. 

New Garden and Deep River, in the Piedmont 
section of the State, embracing the northern counties, 
and the latter extending into the Blue Ridge. 



CLOSE OF THE CIVIL WAR 165 

Lost Creek, in Tennessee, since transferred to Wil- 
mington Yearly Meeting. 

Thus it will be seen that Friends dwelt in almost 
every part of the State. They had always been in- 
fluential citizens of the commonwealth. Archdale, 
the Quaker Governor, had favorably introduced 
them, and while during slavery times they had ex- 
cluded themselves from office, they were well known 
and held in high regard by men prominent in public 
life. One of the most stirring speeches ever deliv- 
ered by Governor Graham was on the subject, " Test 
Oaths and Sedition," and was spoken in the State 
convention at Raleigh, December 7, 1861. As an 
evidence of the position held by Friends, I quote a 
part of this speech : 

" Now, sir, the requirement of this affirmation to 
be taken by the denomination called Quakers is as 
effectual an act of banishment of that sect as if it 
had been plainly denounced in the ordinance. And 
the same may be said, I presume, in relation to Men- 
nonists and Dunkers, though I have less knowledge 
of them. There were some of the last named class in 
the County of Lincoln during my boyhood ; whether 
they remain and keep up their peculiar tenets, I am 
not informed. But the Quakers are a well-known 
sect, numbering not less than 10,000 persons in the 
State — and it is equally well known that they will 
not engage in war, and are conscientiously scrupulous 
against bearing arms. Our laws, from the Revolu- 
tion downward to this day, have respected their 
scruples, and extended to them the charity and tol- 
eration due to the sincerity and humility of their 
profession. This ordinance wholly disregards their 
peculiar belief, and converts every man of them into 



i6 6 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

a warrior or an exile. True, they are allowed to 
affirm, but the affirmation is equivalent to the oath of 
the feudal vassal to his lord, to 'defend him with 
life and limb and terrene honor. ' It is, that they 
'will, to the utmost of their power, support, main- 
tain and defend the independent government of the 
Confederate States of America against the United 
States or any other power that by open force or 
otherwise may attempt to subvert the same, ' etc. 
If this does not include military defense, it is difficult 
to find language that would. It is so well known 
that the ordinary oath to the State implies defense 
with arms that the Quakers have ever refused to 
affirm its terms, but have had a special affirmation 
provided for them, as may be seen in the present Re- 
vised Code, and in all former editions of our laws. 
This ordinance, therefore, is nothing less than a 
decree of banishment to them. Sir, this humble 
denomination, who in the meekness and charity 
which so distinguished their Divine Master, yield 
precedence to none, were the first white men who 
made permanent settlements within our borders. 
Scourged and buffeted by Puritanism in New Eng- 
land, and Prelacy in Virginia, they found no rest or 
religious freedom until they had put the great Dismal 
Swamp between themselves and the nearest of their 
persecutors. In the dark forests of its southern 
border, they obtained a toleration from the savage 
red men which had been denied them by their Anglo- 
American brethren. There they opened the wilder- 
ness, reared their modest dwellings, and filled the 
land with the monuments of civilization. There, 
and upon the upper waters of the Cape Fear, which 
they subsequently colonized, their posterity has 



CLOSE OF THE CIVIL WAR 167 

remained to this day — a quiet, moral, indus- 
trious, thrifty people, differing from us in opin- 
ion on the subject of slavery, but attempting 
no subversion of the institution — producing abun- 
dantly by their labor, paying punctually and 
certainly their dues to the government and sup- 
porting their own poor. Sir, upon the expulsion 
from among us of such people the civilized world 
would cry 'shame!' " 

Up to the time of the war the Friends had gener- 
ally carried on schools in their communities, and 
their children had been educated at the boarding- 
school. During the war most of these schools per- 
ished, and at its close there were many just enter- 
ing young manhood and womanhood who had had 
little opportunity to secure any education. Previous 
to the Civil War there had been an educational com- 
mittee, composed of two men and two women 
Friends from each of the nineteen monthly meetings. 
This committee was appointed in 1848, and in the 
Summary Report for 1851 there were 804 children 
between five and sixteen years of age, and 334 be- 
tween sixteen and twenty-one. Of these, i , 104 were 
reported as receiving some education. As times 
grew more strenuous and doubt and discouragement 
were abroad in the land, this committee relaxed its 
efforts and was finally discontinued, and nothing of 
the kind was attempted during the war. In 1 865 an- 
other education committee was appointed to act in 
conjunction with the Baltimore Association, which 
reported regularly thereafter. This committee was 
Joseph R. Parker, Isham Cox, Thomas J. Benbow, 
Thomas Pearson, Allen U. Tomlinson and Nathan 
F. Spencer. 



1 68 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

First-day schools had not been general, although 
there had been a few scattered through the yearly 
meeting. In 1864 this minute is recorded: "The 
importance of the establishment of First-day schools 
within our limits claiming our attention, it is ad- 
vised that subordinate meetings adopt measures for 
that purpose, " and thereafter there was a yearly re- 
port of this work. 

The peculiar views and testimonies of Friends 
were much dwelt upon by our ministers and over- 
seers during the war, and we were exhorted to be 
faithful in all those peculiarities. The following 
from a Minute of Advice will illustrate the general 
attitude: *'We verily believe that the great distress 
in which our country is now plunged is in a large de- 
gree traceable to the hireling ministers of the present 
day. We fear that some of them, feeling that their 
places and living may depend upon the doctrines 
which were preached, have failed to enforce the 
truths of the Gospel in its fullness; while others 
from the same cause have advocated doctrines di- 
rectly at variance with the teachings of Christ. Let 
us then be careful, while treating all men with kind- 
ness and love, that we do not lower this important 
principle — that a pure Gospel ministry must be 
free." 

We had been a little band of believers in peace in 
the midst of war, of antislavery abolitionists in the 
heart of slave territory, of hearts almost to a unit 
loyal to the Union in the midst of secession. The 
way had not been strewn with flowers. Espionage 
and a degree of persecution had drawn us closer to- 
gether and intensified both our principles and our 
prejudices. We had had almost no intercourse with 



CLOSE OF THE CIVIL WAR 169 

the outside world. Almost everything was gone ex- 
cept the bare hills, the abundant forests and our- 
selves. I flatter myself that even thus we had a 
goodly heritage, and under the kindly nurture of 
some of the noblest men who ever blessed God's 
earth, we were enabled to rise from the dust and 
discouragement of the past and set our faces toward 
the rising sun. 

The association first sent us Joseph Moore, whose 
presence was that of light-bringer. Then Allen Jay, 
who somehow anointed us with the oil of gladness 
and kept us from faltering. But these matters are 
not for me, but will be told by one who knows both 
sides of the situation. 

Guilford College, N. C, 



Chapter XIX 

WORK AND LEADERS OF THE BALTI- 
MORE ASSOCIATION 

The Field Opened for the Baltimore Association 

The foregoing account by Mary Mendenhall 
Hobbs, telling in her own pleasant way the privations 
and trials of Friends in the South during the war 
and the condition they were left in at its close, is a 
fit introduction to the organization of an association 
in the city of Baltimore having for its name and 
object "The Baltimore Association of Friends to 
Assist and Advise with the Friends in the Southern 
States. " The need of this can never be fully known 
except by those who passed through it. We of the 
North will never be able to appreciate the condition 
that our dear Friends of the South were in at the 
close of the war. We will give here a clipping from 
the Baltimore American, dated Eighth month 6, 1883, 
in which a short resume of the work is made : 

" One First-day morning, towards the close of the 
war, two men appeared in front of the Friends meet- 
ing-house, on Coiutland Street, and quietly waited 
until the services were over. As the members were 
coming out of the building, the two strangers in- 
formed several of the congregation that there were 
some North Carolina Friends at one of the city 
wharves in destitute circumstances. A committee 
at once repaired to the locality and found there fifty 

(170) 



BALTIMORE ASSOCIATION 171 

persons, of all ages and conditions, whose homes had 
been ruined by the passage of Johnston's and Sher- 
man's armies through the section in which they 
lived. They had obtained permission to go to their 
friends in the Northwest. Their suffering excited 
a warm sympathy, and steps were at once taken for 
their comfort. But the charity did not stop there. 
Permission was obtained from President Lincoln to 
send a vessel load of provisions and agrictdtural 
implements to the other Friends in North Carolina, 
and 450 more soon passed through the city, and 
they, too, received assistance. The temporary aid 
thus extended became an established permanency, 
and the Baltimore Association of Friends in the 
South was formed. This society, in a quiet way, 
has been accomplishing a great deal of good in 
North Carolina. It has expended over $122,500 
since the close of the war in educational and agri- 
cultural work. The magnitude and efficiency of the 
results have recently been brought to light through 
extended notices in the North Carolina papers and 
the dedication of large school buildings and meeting- 
houses. 

" In 1 750, New Garden, in the western part of the 
State, was settled by a colony of Friends. This set- 
tlement formed a nucleus of a still larger settlement 
and the Friends increased both in numbers and in- 
fluence. Over half a century ago a school was estab- 
lished. It has continued prosperously ever since. 

"The Baltimore Association has organized a sys- 
tem of schools in thirteen counties of the State ; took 
great interest in the institution at New Garden, and 
has just expended $22,000 in the enlargement of the 
buildings and the extension and addition of new halls 



172 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

and general improvements, making it one of the most 
prominent institutions in the State. The opening 
exercises took place last week in the presence of a 
thousand people, among them being Governor Jarvis, 
General Scales, member of Congress; Dr. Worth, 
treasurer of the State, and a large nimiber of the 
leading editors of the State. The Baltimore Asso- 
ciation was represented by Francis T. King and Dr. 
James C. Thomas. All the gentlemen made very in- 
teresting and able addresses. Dr. Mendenhall read 
a full historical account of the Yearly Meeting of 
Friends compiled from original records as far back 
as the year 1704, when George Fox landed in Caro- 
lina and gathered a church near the waters of the 
Albemarle. 

"The Friends first landed in this coimtry in 
Massachusetts in 1656. They made their way down 
to North Carolina and at one time formed over one- 
half of the colonists of the State. 

''The labors of the Baltimore Society have been 
fraught with gratifying results. Its system of 
schools has given education not only to all the chil- 
dren of the Friends, but to 1,300 children of other 
denominations. The establishment of the institu- 
tion has stopped all emigration of the Friends from 
the States to the West and increased their member- 
ship from 2,200 to 5,641, and the number of meet- 
ing-houses from 28 to 52. A similar work has been 
carried on in Eastern Tennessee, where there are 
700 Friends. The Society has also conducted a 
model farm at a central location, and has established 
agricultural clubs in various parts of the State. 
Some years it has sent as much as two tons of clover 
seed from Baltimore to North Carolina. 



BALTIMORE ASSOCIATION 173 

"The officers of the Baltimore Association are: 
President, Francis T. King; treasurer, Jesse Tyson; 
secretary, John C. Thomas; directors, Dr. James C. 
Thomas, Francis White, Dr. Caleb Winslow, James 
Carey and Joseph P. Elliott. 

"Mr. King was seen by an American reporter 
yesterday and asked what improvements he had 
noted in the South. T notice,* he replied, 'that a 
great stimulus is being given to education in the 
South. New schools are springing up, many of 
them being of high grades. In one town of 5,000 
inhabitants two large post-grade schools are being 
established, each of which will have a brick building 
and would he an ornament to the city of Baltimore. 
The money was contributed by the people.' " 

In 1874, the Friends Review had the following 
to say: "The Friends of the yearly meetings on this 
continent, with those of London and Dublin, ren- 
dered Friends of North Carolina, through the agency 
of the Baltimore Educational Association, the 
assistance they so much stood in need of after four 
years of trial and suffering, and have been greatly 
blessed in promoting their religious and material 
interests, and we believe it has always been a blessing 
to their neighborhoods generally, commending to 
many hearts the Gospel message of ' Peace on Earth, 
Good Will to Men. ' 

"North Carolina Yearly Meeting abolished slavery 
within its limits at the beginning of the eighteenth 
century, from which period to the breaking out of the 
rebellion there was a steady and large emigration 
of their members to the West, composed mainly of 
families escaping from the power and influence of 
slavery, that they might bring up their children 



174 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

under free institutions. The character and exten- 
sion of this emigration seriously diminished their 
numbers, and, had their members been able to sell 
their farms in 1861, there would have been a general 
movement to the free States. But we believe it was 
providentially overruled, and they were left isolated 
for four long years from their brethren and their 
government, the history and suffering of which period 
have already been given. 

"When the war closed in 1865 the same desire to 
move away again seized upon them, and, but for 
prompt aid and counsel through the Baltimore Asso- 
ciation, serious consequences would have resulted 
to the organization of the yearly meeting, and great 
pecimiary and personal sacrifice to Friends individ- 
ually. 

"In 1 86 1 there were seven quarterly meetings, 31 
meetings for worship, 12 Friends schools and 2,200 
members. In 1873 there were eight quarterly meet- 
ings, 44 meetings for worship, 42 Friends schools 
and over 5,000 members. 

"The educational and agricultin*al work in the 
South, undertaken in brotherly love by the United 
Yearly Meetings, had been so rich and varied in its 
character, so speedy and permanent in its results, so 
economical in its management, and so evidently 
blessed of the Lord, that we desire to encourage our 
Friends of North Carolina to continue the work." 

The Master Hand at the Helm. 

Having given the cause and origin of the Balti- 
more Association, it will be appropriate to pause for 
a little time and speak of the man who, more than 
any other, saw the necessity of such an association. 



BALTIMORE ASSOCIATION 175 

and who, during its years of existence, did more than 
any other one to make its work a real success. 
Others labored faithfully and efficiently, but I think 
we all recognize the fact that he was the master 
hand at the helm. It would be pleasant to give a 
word picture of this man, who was a leader and who 
led wisely and efficiently. 

Francis Thompson King was born in Baltimore, 
Second month 25, 1819. He was carefully trained 
and educated in the Society of Friends, and early 
became convinced of the sin of slavery and war. 

About this time Joseph John Gurney, while on a 
visit to this country, stopped at Joseph King's house, 
and his son, F. T. King, became an avowed Christian 
in 1838. He fully , accepted the doctrine of the 
Gospel as held by the Friends and ever remained 
loyal to the interests of Baltimore Yearly Meeting, 
with which he was actively connected through the 
remainder of his life. He served as clerk of the 
yearly meeting for many years, was an elder worthy 
of double honor, and a member of various commit- 
tees. For sixteen years he engaged in business, but 
in 1856, having obtained the amount he had previ- 
ously fixed upon as needful for his support, he 
retired from active business that he might give him- 
self more directly to the Lord's work. 

John C. Thomas knew him well, and, in a recent 
letter to the writer, gives this brief word picture of 
our mutual friend : " He was a remarkable combina- 
tion of widely differing and valuable qualities, a 
sanguine temperament with a conservative disposi- 
tion, enthusiastic, but cautious; quick to devise 
plans, yet holding all in subjection to religious prin- 
ciples and to his understanding of God's will for him ; 



176 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

an elder with spiritual discernment and earnest con- 
cern for the growth of the Church and for the devel- 
opment of gifts; though a zealous Friend, yet with 
a wide outlook, broad and sympathizing ; a genuine 
fellowship with all believers in the Lord Jesus 
Christ." Being faithful with his early covenant to 
retire from active business as soon as he became 
possessed of a moderate competency, and devote 
himself to benevolent work, it was not long before 
appeals for his services and help pressed upon him 
and met a hearty response. Many institutions and 
associations and individuals were guided to success 
by his advice and assistance. I remember him telling 
me at one time that he was connected with over one 
dozen benevolent institutions and Christian associa- 
tions, as president, vice-president, trustee or director. 
For many years he took active interest in the Mary- 
land Bible Society, and was one of its active mana- 
gers. He took great interest in the work of the 
Y. M. C. A. of his native city. Also in the orphan 
asylums and hospitals and similar institutions. He 
was president of the Board of Trustees of the Johns 
Hopkins University and the Johns Hopkins Hospital. 
He gave much time and labor in getting those 
institutions started and in proper working order. 
He was also one of the trustees of Bryn Mawr College, 
and was actively engaged in the promotion and 
building up of that institution. So when the 
Baltimore Association was formed, as described in 
a previous chapter, those who knew him would 
naturally expect to see him taking a leading part in 
the organization and one of its active spirits in 
carrying it forward. He felt that North Carolina 
Yearly Meeting should continue to be the center 



BALTIMORE ASSOCIATION 177 

of religious influence in the South, and that Guilford 
College should be made a center of Quaker education 
in the Old North State, where early Quakerism 
found a foothold in the days of Fox and Edmund- 
son and others of the early pioneers, but which bid 
fair to be routed out. He saw the danger, and with 
others threw himself into the breach and turned 
back the tide of emigration to the West. He visited 
every yearly meeting in this land, also London and 
Dublin Yearly Meetings on the other side, endeavor- 
ing in this effort to build up the waste places in North 
Carolina Yearly Meeting and restore it to its proper 
rank among the yearly meetings of this continent. 
He labored both with men and boys, in public and in 
private. His correspondence was extensive, laying 
the work before Friends everywhere. During the 
time of the association work he made about forty 
visits to the field in North Carolina and Tennessee. 
He wanted to see the work himself. No privation 
was too great. With my horse and open spring 
wagon, we would leave our home at Bush Hill and 
drive around through Randolph, Guilford, Alamance, 
and the adjoining counties for ten days or two weeks, 
visiting schools and meetings, holding religious 
and educational meetings in different neighbor- 
hoods. Sometimes our journey would be up towards 
the mountains, but wherever we went we always 
had a word of encouragement for those we met. 

It would be interesting to dwell upon some of our 
conversations as he would review the field, talk over 
the different schools and meetings, and dwell upon 
what the future would be in North Carolina relig- 
iously, educationally and agriculturally. He saw 
the beginning and the growth of his vision. It is 
12 



178 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

the privilege of some of the rest of us to see more 
of it, but none of us have yet seen the full fruition 
of those years of patience and toil. 

He died peacefully, after a few days' illness, on 
the 1 8th of Twelfth month, 1891. 

'John Scott, of Baltimore Tearly Meeting 

There are one or two other persons who should 
claim our thoughts as we pass on. Our dear friend, 
John Scott, a minister of Baltimore Yearly Meeting, 
was among the first to go to North Carolina to spy 
out the condition that Friends were left in and the 
best way to supply their needs. Although advanced 
in years, he was active and energetic in the work, 
his mission being to look after the temporal needs of 
our dear Friends, and to help them get started again 
in a financial way. Thus he spent most of a year. 

He reached Greensboro, North Carolina, Twelfth 
month 23, 1865, and attended monthly meeting at 
New Garden on the 27th. The meeting appointed 
Joshua Lindley, Uriah Macy and John Carter to 
assist him and Joseph Moore in their work. Dover 
Monthly Meeting, on the 28th, appointed Thomas J. 
Benbow and Lewis Starbuck for a similar piirpose. 
It is interesting to read his diary, in which he noted 
all the particulars of each day's doings: ''Went to 
Allen U. Tomlinson's on the 29th. On First-day 
attended a meeting at Springfield, and on the first 
day of the year, 1866, started two schools in the 
limits of Springfield Monthly Meeting, one at Oak 
Forest, under the care of Franklin S. Blair, whose 
salary was $25 per month; the other at Springfield, 
under the care of Alpheus L. Mendenhall, at $35 
per month. " 




JOSEPH MOORE. 



BALTIMORE ASSOCIATION 179 

Then he goes on to tell about looking after the 
work at Marlboro, Centre, Cane Creek, Spring, 
Forbush, Hunting Creek and Piney Woods, where 
he distributed calicoes, flannels, shawls, cloth of all 
■ sorts, pins, needles, etc. On the 14th he went 
to New Garden and bought John Carter's gray mare, 
Fannie, for Joseph Moore to use, also a bridle and 
saddle, paying $15 for the saddle and bridle and 
$125 for the mare. In this way he passed over the 
length and breadth of the yearly meeting, giving a 
detailed account of his travels, also the condition of 
families, schools and meetings. But most of those 
homes are now changed and the individuals named 
have passed away. 

Richard M. Janney, who went down with John 
Scott, did not remain very long. Sarah M. Smiley, 
who was a pioneer in the field, soon turned her 
attention to the work among the freedmen, in which 
line she labored faithfully for several years, and her 
work was much blessed. 

'Joseph Moore and His Work 

At this point it is fitting to speak at length 
about Joseph Moore, who was a leader in organizing 
day schools and Bible schools and in lecturing along 
educational lines. 

He was born in Washington County, Indiana, 
Second month 29, 1832, and was the son of John 
Parker and Martha Cadwalader Moore. Until he was 
twenty years old, he spent most of his time upon the 
farm, helping to clear the ground for cultivation and 
doing all kinds of farm work. From four to six 
months per year were spent in school. Barnabas C. 



i8o AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

Hobbs and Myra Lindley were his first teachers. He 
early loved nature in her various aspects. He knew 
no one who had made a study of plants, but, finding 
a book on botany, he borrowed it and soon had a 
botanical garden of wild flowers, which he tried with 
no little pains to classify. 

He said of himself, " I had strong religious con- 
victions in my early years and a tender conscience, 
often suffering from doing violence to my sense of 
right." 

He taught his first school in Jackson County in 
the winter of 1850 and 1851, the second at Blue River 
Seminary in the summer of 1852. At the age of 
twenty-one he sold his colt and went to Friends 
Boarding- School, now Earlham College. He joined 
with William B. Morgan, teacher of mathematics, 
and Zaccheus Test, teacher of classics, in purchasing 
$200 worth of apparatus from E. S. Richey & Son, 
Boston, Mass. He spent two years at Harvard, 
under Agassiz, Gray and Wyman. In 1861, having 
received the degree of B.S., he returned to Earlham 
College and took the position of Professor of Science. 
He opened a laboratory in the fall of 186 1 and taught 
qualitative anah^sis, which Professor Wylie says was 
in advance of the work done in any other college in 
Indiana. He was married Eighth month, 1862, to 
Deborah A. Stanton, who died in the autumn of 
1864, leaving one son, J. E. Moore. In the autumn 
of 1865, soon after the opening of the college term, 
his health suddenly failed. He had hemorrhage of 
the lungs, and for several weeks recovery was 
thought to be doubtful. As he grew better he was 
asked by the Baltimore Association to go to North 
Carolina and take charge of the educational and 



BALTIMORE ASSOCIATION i8i 

religious work that they were carrying on in that 
State and in Tennessee. This work, as we have 
already seen, was to restore in part what had been 
lost in the war, to make a more efficient and influen- 
tial body of working Christians and to stay the tide 
of emigration to the West and North. With the 
change of climate and the outdoor life afforded in 
traveling from mountain to sea and from sea to 
mountain and over into Tennessee, his health 
gradually returned, so that for three years he hardly 
missed as many days. He had three precious years, 
"with a people scattered and peeled by war." 
With the help of the Baltimore Association and the 
Friends in North Carolina, schools were started, 
normal schools organized and school supplies were 
shipped from the North. He instituted Bible 
schools and schools for training Bible teachers, 
and went from one neighborhood to another lectur- 
ing and talking on various subjects to the hungry 
multitude. *' I never had any fear, " he says, *' that 
I was in the wrong place, with access to so many 
parents, so many children, so many people generally, 
of all grades and classes." So what seemed in the 
autumn of 1865 a great personal calamity, was but 
the continuation of personal blessing. 

After three years in North Carolina, he was called 
to the presidency of Earlham College, which post he 
held for fourteen years, from 1869 to 1883. He was 
married again in the spring of 1872 to Mary Thome. 
I will close my account of Joseph Moore by adding a 
description from one who was intimately acquainted 
with him : 

"Joseph Moore was a singularly winning person- 
ality, though it is difficult to analyze the sources of 



i82 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

his power over those with whom he came in contact. 
Certain traits, however, were conspicuous in all his 
relations. He had a large capacity for friendship. 
There was a receptive welcome in his attitude, a gra- 
cious geniality in his bearing, a kindliness in his 
smile and in the cordial and frank light of his eye 
that drew to him alike child and adult, man and 
woman. Loyal himself, he inspired loyalty in others, 
and a host of loving friends in all the places where 
his work was done attest his power of giving and 
gaining friendship. 

"He loved men as individuals and mankind at 
large. He believed in the best in man and called out 
the best in response. His was a broad but practical 
optimism which had faith in God's good purpose for 
the uplifting, purifying, and ennobling of the com- 
mon men and women who make up this world. His 
faith in the best in men and his frank and sincere 
appeal to it, both directly and by implication, was 
one of the causes of his strong hold on the young men 
and women with whom his teaching brought him in 
touch. They caught the inspiration of his ideals. 
He made his own spiritual vision vital realities to 
them, and many a one responded with the fine zeal of 
youth, and, striving after these same ideals, grew 
into new beauty of character. For though he loved 
beauty and truth in nature and in art, pre-eminently 
he loved the truth and beauty expressed in human 
life — the creation of noble character. His love of 
service amounted to a passion; no child, no halting 
pupil was too insignificant to share his gracious 
helpfulness, if he saw the need. Whether it was an 
individual, personal need or a broad and general one, 
if the need were there and the cause right, it met a 



BALTIMORE ASSOCIATION 183 

ready response. He spent generously of his time, 
his strength, and his money for education, both for 
Earlham and for the work in North CaroHna. He 
was most self-forgetful in his service for education 
wherever he had opportunity. 

**A further source of his power lay in his whole- 
some and sane simplicity, a simplicity which he saw 
with sure insight, the essential good, the untram- 
meled truth. And such essentials he loved with 
a sure and steadfast devotion. 

** Gentle to a degree, yet the strength of his char- 
acter showed itself in unflinching fidelity to his 
conviction and unswerving loyalty to the truth. 
There was never any public vacillation with him. 
He was fearless and firm, yet tactful and considerate 
in questions of college administration or in the still 
broader problems of the Church or of politics. 

To be true to the truth and faithful, 
Though the world be arrayed for a lie." 

And we often heard him say, '* Truth is the high- 
est thing a man may keep. " Along with his love of 
truth was a profound reverence for it. He rever- 
enced the smallest fact of science as well as the 
greatest and most compreheuvsive laws, because 
either is a revelation of God. All poetry or other 
literature in which the truth of man's experience 
found expression appealed to him. His religion 
was a firm faith in the truth as revealed in the soul 
of man by the spirit of God, unhampered by narrow 
creed or difficult dogma, a truth which was livable 
in any human life. 

Withal he met his life and its opportunities and 
responsibilities with a glad cotirage and an absolute 



1 84 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

sincerity. He loved his work as teacher and min- 
ister, and felt the call to both as equally strong and 
equally divine. He had the same high purpose in 
both. It was the sincere living of the message which 
his lips uttered, that sent it home to men's hearts 
with conviction and power. Whether as teacher or 
preacher, he transmitted his own vital knowledge of 
truth to others and lived as an incarnation of the 
truth he taught. One of his old students says of him, 
** To inspire a passionate love for truth in the hearts 
of young men and women is the greatest thing man or 
woman can do. * * * Somehow his own tender 
love for truth communicated itself to us." And a 
lifelong friend says, "There was something in him 
that always seemed to make God and goodness a 
deeper reality to you, to confirm you in the Chris- 
tian life and to give a higher impulse to your whole 
being." 



Chapter XX 

DUTIES AS SUPERINTENDENT FOR THE 
BALTIMORE ASSOCIATION 

Having now given some idea of the condition of 
Friends in North CaroHna at the close of the war, 
and an account of the formation of the Baltimore 
Association, also a brief sketch of some of the leading 
characters connected with the work, we can now 
proceed to speak of the work in general and some 
of the results that were accomplished. It would be 
diflQcult to dwell upon the particulars and give the 
details, because of my intimate connection with the 
various departments, without speaking of myself 
more than is pleasant or becoming, but I will 
try to keep myself hidden as much as possible. 

I wish I could tell of Friends and their heroic 
sacrifice. Many whose names have not been seen in 
public did much to bring about the great results. 
When we reached there Joseph Moore and his co- 
laborers had started a number of schools, organized 
a normal training school for teachers, had held some 
Bible-school conferences and had opened up the 
channel for securing supplies of books and stationery 
from William Wood & Co., New York. It was my 
duty to press the good work forward and into new 
fields ; seek out places where there were no schools ; 
assist in building new school-houses; employ more 
teachers ; visit the meetings and schools ; stir up and 
keep alive the interest through the length and 
breadth of the yearly meeting, and try to enlarge the 

(185) 



1 86 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

work in all directions. The Baltimore Association, 
at a meeting held in Baltimore, Twelfth month 21, 
1865, adopted the following set of rules to govern 
the superintendent in his labors : 

1. He must keep a clear cash account. 

2. He must keep a journal. 

3. He must report weekly to the board. 

4. He must have a central office, a room that 
can be hired and fitted up for storage of books, 
clothes, stationery, etc., and to which letters can 
be addressed. 

5. There is an Educational Committee ap- 
pointed by North Carolina Yearly Meeting with 
which our superintendent is to confer when neces- 
sary. The committee and the Baltimore Association 
control the schools jointly. 

6. The boarding-school is to remain tmder the 
care of its trustees, we have nothing to do with the 
management, but we have agreed to spend upon the 
repairs of the building this year $1,500, including 
roofing, etc., and $1,000 on apparatus this year, and 
to educate free one year in the institution twenty 
children of Friends who have suffered from the war, 
selecting the most suitable ones. 

7. The Baltimore Association to pay the salaries 
of teachers in the schools and furnish books and 
stationery. North Carolina Friends will furnish 
school-houses, board the teachers and provide the fuel, 

8. Friends who are able are to pay the tuition 
of their children and provide the books. 

9. Those who profess with us are to enjoy the 
same privileges as members. 

10. Those not Friends are to pay for the books 
and tuition of their children. 



WORK IN NORTH CAROLINA 187 

11. To employ teachers by the month. Our 
views are $5 to $40 per month, according to the size 
and grade of the school. 

12. We will send Bibles and tracts for the First- 
day schools and for Bible associations. 

The above were the rules under which the 
association began its work. They were modified as 
time went on and circumstances changed. The 
amount of money given to the boarding school 
varied each year as the situation demanded. 

The first postoffice near which we located was 
Greensboro. We changed afterward to Bush Hill 
(now Archdale) . We fixed up one of the downstairs 
bed-rooms in our home for an office, where all the 
books and stationery were kept. Our home was 
located some twenty-five rods from the old Spring- 
field Meeting-house, about a mile from the post- 
office. By correspondence I- generally learned what 
books and stationery to take with me when starting 
out to visit the schools located in the adjoining 
counties of Randolph, Guilford, Alamance, Davison, 
Chatham, etc., and would load them in my spring 
wagon. For those schools located in a distant part 
of the State or in Tennessee, I would ship the books 
and stationery by railroad and then go myself by 
public conveyance. 

In that way I would visit schools and meetings 
in the eastern and western parts of the State and 
cross the mountains into Tennessee once or twice 
each year during the nine years I was in North 
Carolina. 

These visits were very interesting occasions. 
With my buggy loaded down, I would start out 
over the rough roads and through the woods. 



i88 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

During the war but little attention was given to 
repairing the roads. If a tree fell down across the 
track it was easier to drive around it than it was to 
cut it off and roll it out of the way. If a gully was 
washed across the road, people would drive around 
it through the fields or through the woods and brush. 
In time, however, I became familiar with the roads 
in the territory where our schools were located. I 
learned to love the old ways and old places, and the 
localities of Friends meetings in North Carolina and 
Tennessee were dear, familiar spots, but more near to 
my heart were many of the homes. I always foimd 
a warm welcome and shared with them the best thev 
had. 

The memory of those fathers and mothers with 
their children is a bright spot in my life. Many of 
those humble homes were oases in my life's journey. 
They are changed now. Those children are the 
active members of the Church to-day. Three years 
ago, as we sat on the platform in the yearly meeting 
I said to my wife, " I think I have had nearly half of 
this yearly meeting on my knee when they were 
children." The memory of those days is pleasant. 

Those visit swere frequent and were after the 
fashion of the Methodist circuit riders. I would send 
an appointment on before me to the effect that there 
would be an educational meeting in the school- 
house and a religious meeting in the meeting-house 
while in the neighborhood. All were invited to 
attend both and the company was generally large. 
Some of my educational lectures would be amusing 
if they were compared with the lectures of the present 
day. The variety was sufficient to do away with 
all monotony. Sometimes my talks included such 



WORK IN NORTH CAROLINA 189 

profound subjects as telling the young men that 
::^hey should do the milking rather than their mothers 
any sisters, and should carry in the wood ; that they 
should let mother sit down at the table when there 
was not room for all ; also how hurtful was the use 
of tobacco They included telling the girls to 
sweep up the ashes in the corners of the fireplaces 
and stand the broom up on the handle, rather than 
let it lie on the floor. I tried to tell them how they 
spoiled their looks by dipping snuff. Those lectures 
were not in vain. Soon the time came when, as I 
went into a schoolroom, all the snuff brushes would 
disappear and the boys' tobacco was pushed out of 
sight. 

To-day North Carolina is among the leaders 
in its rules forbidding those who use tobacco in any 
form being acknowledged ministers of the Gospel or 
appointed elders or overseers in the Church, and 
the yearly meeting is in the foremost ranks in the 
great temperance movement that has swept over 
North Carolina. 

Joseph Moore, who preceded me, was a college 
man and this reputation went before him, but upon 
one occasion it was called in question by a dear old 
woman Friend who heard him lecture. She said, '* I 
don't believe he has college larnin', for I could 
understand all he said." My educational talks 
never raised a suspicion that I had "college 
larnin'." Yet these talks were times when we got 
close together and endeavored to strengthen and 
build up the schools, the neighborhood, and the home ; 
to create in the minds of the young an ambition to 
aspire to higher positions in the educational and 
religious world. 



I90 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

Schools of the Baltimore Association 

Reference has already been made to the normal 
schools that were held each summer for the purpose 
of training teachers in methods of instruction. The 
plan was to bring all the teachers from the schools 
under the care of the Baltimore Association together 
in a suitable locality and train them for the work of 
teaching. This work restdted in great good to the 
cause of education in the State. Other teachers 
connected with schools not under our care were per- 
mitted to attend, thereby introducing the normal 
training in the State. The result was that when the 
time came for oar Society to give up this normal 
training, the State had seen its good effects upon the 
schools ; so that it established a normal school, which 
has elevated the standard of teaching in North 
Carolina and other places in the South that have 
come tmder its influence. I believe it is not claim- 
ing too much to say that the work done by these 
normal schools was the beginning of an awakening 
on the subject of education that has been far reach- 
ing and of untold advantage in placing the educa- 
tional system of the State among the best. 

The first one of these normal vSchools was held at 
Springfield in 1866. Joseph Moore had charge of it. 
It was the practice to give practical lessons in teach- 
ing, having classes in the various studies and select- 
ing one of the best teachers to conduct the recita- 
tions, at the close having the rest criticise the method 
and show how it might have been improved. In this 
way all the branches taught were brought in review. 
For six weeks this was carried on, the different 
teachers being called upon to show how they would 



WORK IN NORTH CAROLINA 191 

conduct classes upon various subjects. In this 
practical way they were prepared to take charge of 
the schools under their care. Much attention was 
given to composition, writing, reading, and spelling. 
The moral and religious training was not overlooked. 
The devotional exercises at the opening in the morn- 
ing were conducted in a way to be an example for 
the teachers in their schools, and were led by different 
ones of the teachers. Then in the middle of the 
week all attended meeting for worship — another 
example for the various schools throughout the 
yearly meeting; and it is pleasant to record that in 
our morning devotions, as well as in our midweek 
meetings for worship, vocal exercises were frequently 
heard from the various teachers, giving assurance 
that such would be the case in their schools and in 
the meetings where their scholars attended. This 
proved to be the result, manifesting itself in a 
great increase in permanent membership in the 
yearly meeting. 

As I have said, the first of these schools was held 
for six weeks at Springfield. It was largely at- 
tended and was a great success. The second was 
held at Deep River in 1867, the third at Springfield 
in 1868. The fourth, in 1869, and the fifth, in 1870, 
were also held at Springfield. The sixth, in 1871, 
was held at Cane Creek and was large, numbering 
over one hundred, and the seventh, in 1872, at 
Springfield. In 1873 and 1874, the eighth and ninth 
were held at Greensboro, in Benbow Hall, the one 
in 1874 being the last one held under the supervision 
of the Baltimore Association. The work was then 
turned over to the control of North Carolina Yearly 
Meeting, the association retiring from the field 



192 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

except for giving a little financial assistance to the 
boarding-school and a few other special institutions. 

It was the practice to invite well known persons 
and those who would a good influence, to deliver 
lectiires before these normals, at which times the 
public was generally invited. Among those whom 
I remember as addressing us were Judge Robert 
P. Dick, Dr. Nereus MendenhaJl, Governor Jonathan 
Worth, Dr. Braxton Craven, Marcus L. Wood, 
Francis T. King, Samuel Collins, Calvin H. Wiley, 
Professor Palmer, Harry Hardee, New York; Judge 
Turgee, author of "Fool's Errand," and others 
whom I fail to call to mind at present. Some of 
these spoke to us several times. In this way the 
work was kept before the public. 

Some of these occasions were special times of 
pleasant remembrance. During the Normal School 
at Springfield, in 1869, occurred the remarkable 
eclipse of the sun, which was nearly total. Joseph 
Moore had come down from Earlham to be with us, 
and we also had Eli and Mahalah Jay with us. The 
word had been given out that we would have a picnic 
dinner in the grove and that at the proper time 
Joseph Moore would give a lecture on astronomy 
and explain the cause of the eclipse. It was believed 
that there were 1,500 people present. When we had 
finished our dinner and the time was drawing near 
for the eclipse to begin we adjourned to an open field 
on the model farm near by, and there, standing on a 
wagon with the crowd around him, for some time he 
explained the natural phenomenon we were about to 
witness. When the time approached, he pulled out 
his watch, which he had taken pains to have correct, 
and said, " Now in the next five minutes we will see 



WORK IN NORTH CAROLINA 193 

the shadow begin, " and told us where it would begin. 
As they looked through their smoked glasses and saw 
the shadow, there was a solemn hush, as something 
like awe came over the crowd. It went on until 
there was a complete annular eclipse, there being 
only a small, bright rim visible. He continued to 
explain the subject of eclipses until it was all over 
and the sun assumed its normal appearance. At 
the greatest obscurity there was a damp and chilly 
feeling in the air and some of the chickens in the 
neighborhood began hunting for their roosting 
places. 

Another incident connected with the Normal 
School session in 1870 was the presentation to 
me by the teachers and scholars of the Normal 
School of a very large Bible. It took place at 
the close of the term, after I had made my closing 
remarks and was about to dismiss the company. 
Hearing a little noise, I looked around and saw a 
committee coming from an adjoining room bringing 
this Bible, with the inscription on it, "Presented to 
Allen Jay by the Normal School held at Springfield, 
North Carolina, 1870." One of the teachers had 
been selected to make the presentation speech, which 
he did very nicely and then left me to make reply, 
which I endeavored to do. The presentation being 
a surprise, my reply was rather awkwardly worded 
and poorly delivered, but I hope I succeeded in 
making it plain that I thoroughly appreciated the 
motive and accepted the gift in the spirit in which it 
was given. I have just been looking at it and living 
in memory the scenes of that afternoon at old Spring- 
field. There have been great changes since then in 
that company. 

13 



194 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

The Bihle-School Work 

While giving attention to the schools for advanc- 
ing secular education, the association was equally 
concerned to promote the moral and religious educa- 
tion of the teachers and scholars. It was the aim 
to have a Bible school in each meeting, and in order 
that there might be a sufficient number of teachers 
for these and those who could carry them on and 
make a success, there were established what we 
called Bible or First-day School Associations, which 
were held for several days in convenient centers. To 
these were invited all who could attend, and classes 
were taught from the Bible. Lessons were selected 
from the Scriptures that would give practical illus- 
trations of how to teach. Proper persons were ob- 
tained to lecture on the Bible and Bible teaching, the 
geography of the Bible, the history of the Bible and 
various subjects connected with religious teaching, 
such as " Bible Lands " and the customs and manners 
of the times of our Saviour, lectures on Bible schools 
and the methods of teaching. Sometimes two or 
three were held during the year. Some of the places 
thus visited were New Garden, Deep River, Spring- 
field, Centre, Providence, Cane Creek, Spring, Back 
Creek, Marlboro, Goldboro, Rich Square, and other 
places. Indeed, it was the wish to hold them all 
through the yearly meeting. Some of those who 
were invited to be with us and to help in conducting 
them, outside of our own workers, were F. T. King, 
from Baltimore ; Robert Lindley Murray, Ruth Mur- 
ray, Sarah Tabor, Ellen Congdon, Anna Tatum, 
and Thomas W. Ladd of New York, and many others. 
These were present and were a help, adding a pleasing 



WORK IN NORTH CAROLINA 195 

interest to those occasions. Indeed, the coming of 
these dear Friends was looked forward to with much 
pleasure by a large number who had learned to love 
them for their devoted labor and the sunshine and 
gladness which they scattered in their pathway. 

Some of those experiences are pleasant to remem- 
ber to this day. One morning we left our home at 
Springfield for Cane Creek. There were three men 
and four women of us in an old army ambulance 
that General Sherman had left at the time of the sur- 
render at Greensboro. We had three horses hitched 
to it and William A. Sampson, the model farmer, 
was our driver. That afternoon we had a meeting 
at Providence, stayed all night at John White's and 
next morning went on ovlv journey. Towards noon 
we came to a beautiful spring by the roadside, with 
plenty of green grass and good shade under the 
spreading boughs of the oak trees. We spread our 
wraps out on the ground, built a fire, himg on the 
tea-kettle, got out our meat, vegetables, bread, cake, 
pickles, pies, lemons, oranges, sugar, etc., which had 
been provided by the good women before leaving 
home. When we had gathered round this lovely din- 
ner and vocal blessing was invoked amid the singing 
of birds, I believe every heart was thankful. We 
lingered long in that spot and left with reluctant 
looks when time reminded us that we must proceed. 
In my rounds I frequently passed the place after- 
wards, never without thinking of that company, all 
of whom have passed beyond except myself. But 
I now leave these Normal Schools, both in the secular 
and Bible schools, and turn to the teachers and the 
work resulting from this intellectual, moral and 
religious training. 



Chapter XXI 
SOME OF THE TEACHERS AND MINISTERS 

The Teachers of the Baltimore Association 

Our teachers were selected from the members of 
North CaroHna Yearly Meeting who had been to 
New Garden Boarding-School and who had had some 
experience in teaching the country schools before the 
war. We had others who were brought from the 
North and West. When the schools had reached 
their largest number, there were some sixty teachers 
under the care of the Association. It was the duty 
of the superintendent to look after them, assigning 
them to their various schools, find boarding places 
for them, and see that books and stationery were sup- 
plied. It was also his duty to see that everything 
was running smoothly between the teachers and the 
patrons of the schools. It required care always to 
get the right one in the right place. These assign- 
ments were generally made at the close of the Normal 
School, so that when the teachers returned home they 
knew where their next year's work was to be done. 
No Methodist bishop ever had a more loyal set of 
workers to assign to their fields of service. They 
were willing to leave the matter to the superin- 
tendent and many times did not even inquire what 
the salary would be. Indeed, in looking back to the 
loyalty and devotion of those dear teachers I do 
not wonder that the work was greatly blessed 

(196) 



TEACHERS AND MINISTERS 197 

It could not be otherwise. It is hard to resist the 
desire to mention their names, for I feel that North 
Carolina Yearly Meeting owes more to those devoted 
and self-sacrificing teachers than it is aware of. Only 
the fear of omitting some who should be mentioned 
keeps me from giving a detailed list of the Blairs, 
the Henleys, the Farlows, the Dixons, the Englishes, 
Tomlinsons, Davises, Worths, Fraziers, Whites, 
Pettys, Hodginses, Benbows, Starbucks, Menden- 
halls, Wilsons and others of the South ; and from the 
North, the Headers, Steeres, Hollingsworths and 
Clarks — all dear names to those of us who were in 
the field. Here I want to say, what I have long felt 
in regard to the growth of North Carolina Yearly 
Meeting, that this growth was due to the faithful- 
ness of those teachers as much as to the ministers, 
for at the close of the war there were few active 
members of the yearly meeting who were acknowl- 
edged ministers. 

The Ministers of North Carolina Yearly Meeting at 
the Close of the War 

Isham Cox, with gray hairs and old-fashioned 
saddle-bags, was a familiar picture riding around 
over the State, visiting the meetings, doing a good 
work, and preaching a gospel of good cheer. He was 
faithful in exercising his gift. His labors were 
blessed to the Church. In the eastern portion was 
Dr. William Nicholson, with his strong and clear 
ministry, leading his hearers to a deeper and fuller 
understanding of the Gospel message. In the same 
locality was Ellen Nicholson, with her feeble body, 
but filled with the Spirit of her Master and fully con- 



198 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

secrated to His service. Her ministry was on the 
prophetic order and was blessed to many. In addi- 
tion to these there were few who were actively en- 
gaged in the field. Daniel and Seth Barker were 
growing old and could not engage in much active 
service. Albert Peele was a rising young minister 
who has given a good account of himself and is still 
active in proclaiming the Gospel message. Many 
have been blessed by his ministry. Besides these, 
there were a few others who were old and feeble and 
rarely went from home. Yet their prayers held up 
the hands of those actively engaged. How few were 
these compared with the multitudes that they had to 
meet. Here were about 2,200 members scattered 
over North Carolina from the eastern coast to the 
western end among the mountains and across them 
into eastern Tennessee and down into the region 
of Knoxville, Maryville and Friendsville. Surely 
they were separated far from each other upon the 
walls. The line of battle was long drawn out. In 
addition to all this they had just passed through a 
four years ' war, had been stripped of their property 
and left destitute. Their meetings had been small 
during that time and many of them held under try- 
ing circumstances. I will here insert a description 
of a meeting held in Virginia during the war. It 
was written by Susan Walker, a member of the meet- 
ing, and read before a literary society at Earlham 
College during the winter of 1862-63, she being a stu- 
dent at Earlham at that time. Perhaps many sim- 
ilar experiences were passed through by meetings in 
North Carolina Yearly Meeting. 



TEACHERS AND MINISTERS 199 

A Quaker Meeting in Dixie 

It was a bright morning in the winter of 1861 
when the Friends of Fairfax Meeting began to as- 
. semble at the usual hour around the old stone meet- 
ing-house. Great was their surprise upon arriving 
there to find that it was occupied by two companies 
of Confederate cavalry that had encamped there 
during the previous night. Some of the oldest and 
most influential men Friends immediately sought out 
the captains and told them of their situation, that the 
house was their place of worship and that there had 
not been a meeting missed there for over one hun- 
dred years, and if the arrangements could possibly 
be made they would be obliged for the use of the 
house for at least two hours. At first the officer 
thought it would be impossible, but after some con- 
sultation concluded that the building was large 
enough for them all and said if the Friends woiild 
wait a while they could make some room for them. 
So the women sat in the carriages while the men en- 
tered the house and assisted the soldiers to place their 
bedding and baggage to one side. The partition was 
soon closed and those of the soldiers who did not 
wish to attend the meeting were sent into the other 
side of the house. However, almost all had a curi- 
osity to be present, having heard of Quaker meetings. 
When the members entered the scenes presented 
there were strange ones for the interior of a Friends 
meeting-house, and had it not been for the solemnity 
of the occasion would have been truly amusing. The 
old ladies ascended the steps into the gallery and took 
their seats, though rather daintily, as arms were 
stacked behind them and muskets and swords stored 



2 00 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

away beneath the benches. In one corner of the 
room the "stars and bars" were unfurled. In an 
opposite one was a large fireplace with a blazing fire, 
over which was roasting a large ttirkey, and some 
hominy cooking. Overcoats were hanging all about. 
Knapsacks and saddles were strewn around, while 
a suppressed titter or an amused whisper of some of 
the more mischievous soldiers regarding the peculiar 
shape of the plain bonnets could be distinctly heard. 
But when all were seated it was perfectly quiet, and 
when an aged and feeble lady rose every countenance 
wore a thoughtful aspect and each attentively 
listened to her words of truth and love. When she 
rose to invoke a blessing on the little band there 
assembled, she also prayed that the wings of peace 
might be spread over our once prosperous and happy 
land, and for the strangers that were that day gath- 
ered in their midst, until load sobs broke from strong- 
men and great tears forced themselves down their 
sun-burned cheeks. After the meeting many of them 
expressed their gratification at having been allowed 
to assemble with the members and said they hoped 
to have another opportunity. Of course, the Friends 
were not desirous that they should remain in the 
house, but invited them to attend their meetings 
whenever they felt inclined. Since that day there 
have been many assemblings for worship in the same 
room and amidst the same military surroundings. 
They have been mostly solemn and impressive, but 
very different from our nice, quiet little ones here at 
Earlham. Those who have not been surrounded by 
war and its attendant horrors know but poorly how 
to appreciate the almost perfect peace and tran- 
quillity that reigns here. I hope never again to hear 



TEACHERS AND MINISTERS 201 

the familiar sound of the booming of cannon or the 
noise of musketry, and that ere I return to the Blue 
Ridge Hills of my native state they will have passed 
forever from our land. 

The Fruits and Lessons of the Work 

0^xr dear Friends in the limits of North Carolina 
Yearly Meeting had their full share of these difficul- 
ties, as they were located in that part of the State 
where Johnston's and Sherman's armies passed in 
the closing years of the war. Their meetings wcx-e 
mostly held in silence, as there were but few min- 
isters belonging to the yearly meeting. Their num- 
bers were very few and scattered over a long dis- 
tance, and yet we saw this little number, without 
much noise or any great show, grow in a few years 
from 2,200 in 1866 to 5,500 in 1876, and it has con- 
tinued to grow until now the figures have nearly 
reached 7,000, and that notwithstanding the fact 
that they have set off the Friends in Tennessee to 
join Wilmington Yearly Meeting in Ohio. It should 
also be borne in mind that this increase has not been 
helped by Friends moving from other yearly meetings 
into its limits, but, on the other hand, some of our 
Western yearly meetings have been strengthened by 
members of North Carolina moving to them. 

There is another fact that I wish to impress 
upon my readers. There has not been the back- 
sliding in that yearly meeting that there has 
been in some others. If we look over the church 
papers for the last forty years and sum up the num- 
ber who have been recorded as converted in the 
revivals and who have joined the Church, we should 
expect in the place of five or six thousand they 



202 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

would have ten or twenty thousand. In others, 
instead of ten or fifteen thousand, they should have, 
according to revival figures, thirty or forty thousand ; 
and then when we hear some one of our revivalists 
state how many thousands have been converted 
luider their ministry, we pause and exclaim, " Where 
are they to-day?" I am not condemning revival 
work, but rejoice that I have had a little hand in it 
myself and can call to mind som^e who claim that 
they found the Saviour under my ministry during 
some revival work. But in view of these figures, 
which are stubborn things and cannot be denied, is 
there not room to fear that there has been a fault in 
our revival methods or in the shepherding care of the 
Church? Perhaps a future historian may see a 
weakness in both the evangelist and the Church. 

In the building up of North Carolina Yearly 
Meeting, which I regard as one of the greatest works 
of the Society of Friends in the last hundred years, 
there is a lesson that I wish to impress upon the 
workers in other yearly meetings. Here were some 
sixty or more teachers, all Christians, sent out into 
the various meetings, requested to open their schools 
with devotional exercises every morning, encouraged 
to organize Bible schools and take the superin- 
tendency of the same unless a more suitable person 
could be found; they were impressed with the im- 
portance of being faithful in their meeting for wor- 
ship in vocal prayer and testimony, and, above all, 
to visit the sick, hunt up the poor children and get 
them into school and under their religious instruc- 
tion. This was a work that was done with no 
flourish of trumpets. Often have I heard of some 
heroic deeds done by these young teachers, deeds 



TEACHERS AND MINISTERS 203 

that were done only for the Master's eye to see. 
Some of these have passed on and perhaps they were 
surprised to hear Him say, " I was sick and in prison 
and ye visited me, enter ye into the joy of your Lord." 

With the blessing of the Lord upon the 
labor of these dear teachers, the monthly meet- 
ings began to receive members, a family at a time, 
sometimes two or three families. Sometimes the 
children in the school led their parents into the 
church. Other families were impressed by the silent 
and patient suffering of the Friends during the war. 
In some cases the women and children of those 
who were not Friends would come and sit with 
Friends in their silent meetings while their hus- 
bands, fathers, and sons were in the army. Thev 
found something in those meetings which strength- 
ened them in the time of sorrow, and when the war 
was over they joined the Church where they had 
found help in those dark hours. Another feature of 
this work was that it went on harmoniously and 
they did not have the religious controveries on 
doctrinal points that have occurred in some other 
yearly meetings. Where these things have been 
introduced it has been done by those coming 
from outside. 

Theological hair-splitting and fanatical ex- 
tremes were never created by the kind of work that 
has been described above. Where the mind is 
trained along with the emotions, where brain and 
heart are educated in unison, such things do not take 
place. The sad result comes where one is developed 
to the neglect of the other. The narrow and un- 
trained mind runs off upon hobbies and extremes. 
Our fathers were right when they labored for a re- 



204 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

ligious and guarded education. They builded well 
when they placed the monthly meeting school-house 
along by the side of the meeting-house. I have dwelt 
thus upon this revival work of the Baltimore Associa- 
tion in building up North Carolina Yearly Meeting 
because there is a lesson in it that some of the other 
yearly meetings will do well to study, and I also feel 
a desire to honor the memory of those silent workers, 
who patiently labored day after day, walking 
through the cold and wet, some of them building 
the fires in the school-house, sweeping out the 
room, visiting the children in their homes and 
speaking a word of comfort to the parents. Another 
generation has arisen and I fear if I did not say 
these words thev never would be said. 



Chapter XXII 
REVIVAL WORK IN NORTH CAROLINA 

Let it not be inferred from the foregoing that 
there was no evangeHstic work done in the shape 
of the old-favShioned revival meetings. There was 
more or less of that kind of work done by different 
ones. As has been said, I took part in some of 
that kind of labor which was blessed, but always 
with the feeling that it should never be carried fur- 
ther than the leaders of the meeting could go with 
me. I have always felt that a separation in a meet- 
ing on that account in the end was fruitful of more 
evil than good. 

Upon returning home one morning from New 
York, where I had been soliciting funds for our 
work, my wife met me at the station, and as we 
rode home she told me that the Methodists were 
holding a revival meeting at Trinity College, some 
three miles from Springfield, and that some of our 
young Friends had gone to the mourners' bench and 
professed conversion, and that some of the parents 
had forbidden their children to go, but that the 
young people and some who were older had gone in 
spite of the counsels of the older people. She feared 
we would have trouble in the meeting. I tried to 
learn what was right for me to do. In the evening 
I hitched up the horse, and when my wife asked 
me where I was going, I told her to the revival. 
She expressed fears for the result, but told me if 

(205) 



2o6 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

I went she would go with me. My object was to 
save our young people to our own church. When 
we went in and took our seats in the back part of 
the room, the leader of the meeting came to us and 
expressed great surprise and yet great joy in seeing 
us there and insisted that I should come and sit by 
him on the platform, which I did. Looking over 
the congregation I perceived whispering and looking 
at me. Our young people were much pleased. At 
the close we endeavored to shake hands with all 
of our young Friends and told them we wanted them 
to remain with us. I attended the meetings for two 
weeks and took such part as I felt was right, and 
had the promise of each one of our young Friends 
who had been converted that they would remain 
members with us. 

A similar revival service was held about the same 
time in Caraway school-house near by. The closing 
meeting was held in the forenoon, and one of our 
young Friends came to me weeping and saying, 
" I dread to go home, for my parents are much 
displeased because I have attended these meetings." 
She had been staying with a friend who lived near by 
where the meetings were held. I told her to go and 
get her things and we would take her home, as we 
passed by there. When we approached the house 
the father was standing in the door. I took her 
by the arm and said, "Thy child left home un- 
saved. She now returns a child of Christ, and in His 
name I ask thee to receive her. ' ' At this she threw 
her arms around his neck and weeping, said, '' I love 
Jesus." All opposition fled, and when all had sat 
down, I led in prayer and then spoke. She then 
told what the Lord had done for her, and before 



REVIVALS IN NORTH CAROLINA 207 

closing an older sister accepted the Saviour. Before 
leaving the State we saw the whole family converted, 
and one is now a recorded minister. 

The next day was our preparative meeting. At 
the close I told Friends what I had been doing, 
and that a number of their children were so under 
deep conviction that I believed it would be right for 
us to hold some meetings in our meeting-house, 
if they were willing. Several leaders gave their 
consent, and a meeting was announced for that night. 
It was largely attended, and a deep feeling came 
over all. The next night, at the close of the speak- 
ing, a young man came up and knelt down by me, 
and in deep contrition asked me to pray for him. 
The next night three came forward without any 
invitation, thus establishing an altar of prayer 
without any action on my part. But the climax 
was reached on the third or fourth night, when 
some one broke out singing. My wife came to me 
and asked me to stop it. My reply was, "I did 
not start it and I shall not stop it. " I remembered 
how a few years before, in Illinois, a Christian young 
woman stood up to sing a hymn, and as she sang 
with the tears running down her face, an elder 
sitting by my side rose and harshly ordered her to 
stop, saying, " It is a Friends meeting and we won't 
have singing." At the close he spoke to me about 
it. I simply said, "I have nothing to say about 
the singing, but it was very evident that thee was out 
of humor when thee spoke to that dear child, and I 
leave thee to settle it with Him who knoweth all 
things, as she is undoubtedly one of His children. " 
Two days afterwards, when I sat down after speak- 
ing, he rose and stood, weeping so he could be heard 



2o8 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

all over the house, and then in broken sentences 
said, "You saw and heard what I did the other day 
and I cannot rest day or night. The only way to 
find peace is to try and sing a hymn myself, and 
I do not know how. " Poor man, he made the effort. 
It was poorly done. The whole congregation was 
weeping with him. At the close of the service 
the young woman whom he had sat down came to 
him and said, *'I forgive you." From that day to 
this it has been a serious matter for me to ask any 
one to sit down. I do not say but that it may be 
right sometimes, but let it be done with care and 
in the right spirit. 

Our meeting went on for ten days, growing larger 
and a number professed to be saved. One day, at the 
close of our weekday meeting, the elders gathered 
together in the meeting-house yard, and I could 
hear them talking, for the dear friend who sat at 
the head of oar meeting, A. U. Tomlinson, was 
hard of hearing, and in telling him what had hap- 
pened they had to speak loud. They told him of 
the singing and of the altar of prayer and that 
there had been some excitement, etc. He listened 
until they were done. Then he said, "Friends, my 
youngest son came home last night from the meeting 
here, came to his mother and myself and told us 
he had given his heart to God and that he wanted 
us to forgive him for the way he had lived and 
that he was determined to live a different life. 
Now, if any of you want to lay your hands on these 
meetings, you can do so, but I am going home." 
And he started down the path. Soon they were all 
gone, much to the relief of my mind, for I had 
decided if they requested me to close the meetings 



REVIVALS IN NORTH CAROLINA 209 

I would do so without any complaint, for I had that 
early in my religious work decided to work in har- 
mony with the Church, and after fifty years ' active 
work in the ministry have never seen cause to change 
my mind. I do not believe the cause of Christ is 
advanced by pushing in innovations or change of 
practice faster than the weight and religious sen- 
timent of the meeting is able to go. For if this is 
done separations are sometimes brought about and 
bitter feelings are engendered and things said and 
done that are contrary to the spirit of the Master. 
Our meetings closed a few days afterwards, and we 
kept all of our members and added some thirty 
new ones to our meeting. 

The Revival at High Point 

The morning we closed, some five or six""ministers 
of other churches from High Point came in. We 
invited them to our house to dinner. While eating, 
one of them wished to know why they could not 
have a revival in their town. I knew their condition. 
There was a prejudice towards each other, and 
while they each had small congregations, they would 
not unite in religious work. I told them plainly 
that they never could while they were fighting each 
other and would not go into each other's meetings. 
Finally the pastor of the Southern Methodist Church 
said, " Brother Jay, if you will come and hold a 
meeting, we will all join in and help." After some 
conversation it was agreed that we would begin on 
the next First-day night, and we selected the house 
that would hold the most people, which was the 
Southern Methodist Church, to hold the meeting in. 
They insisted that I should do the preaching of 

14 



2IO AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

nights, saying there would be no prejudice against 
me as we had no church in the place, and they woiild 
hold a prayer-meeting during the day, visit the homes 
and try to get the people out. They also agreed 
to look after the singing, etc., all of which I am glad 
to say they carried out in the right spirit. The 
result was that I preached for thirty-one nights. 
The house was soon full to overflowing, and some 
one hundred and fifty professed to have found their 
Saviour in the pardon of their sins. The whole 
town was shaken and many prayer-meetings were 
held in the homes during the day. At the close 
the converts joined the churches according to 
their own personal wishes. Notwithstanding the fact 
that we had no meeting in the town, about fifty 
wished to join us and their names were placed on the 
roll at Springfield, which was fully two miles away. 
To-day one of the strongest meetings of the yearly 
meeting is located at High Point, in a fine stone 
building. 

A circumstance happened during this series of 
meetings, and I tell it, trusting it may do no harm. 
From day to day, as my mind was on the meetings 
at night, more than usual I was favored to get hold 
of a text and see something of the line of discourse 
that it would be right for me to follow at the meeting 
that night. But one day, near the close, my mind 
was a blank. Look over the Bible as I wovdd, 
nothing took hold of my mind. Indeed, I felt as 
though I had never preached and never would 
again. Never had I felt such spiritual poverty. 
There was no life in any subject. I told my wife I 
could not preach that night. " But they will ex- 
pect thee to do so." "Well, I can't, and that's 



REVIVALS IN NORTH CAROLINA 211 

all there is of it." We arrived, and the house was 
packed, the doors and windows full as usual. By- 
hard work I managed to get to my chair on the 
platform while the congregation was singing. Turn- 
ing to the half dozen ministers sitting around me, 
I said, " Brethren, one of you will hsive to preach. 
I can't." They insisted that I must, saying that 
the congregation expected it and adding that they 
had made no preparation for it. It was a great 
trial to me, sitting there and hearing each one 
declare that he could not preach. Finally one bro- 
ther said, "We need to pray," and knelt down and 
led the congregation in prayer. Then another said, 
" While you are deciding who will preach, I will give 
out another hymn. " So he rose and said, ** Brother 
Jay says he cannot preach to-night, and while the 
brethren are deciding who will, we will sing another 
hymn." It was a trying time. All eyes were on 
me, wondering what was the matter. Before the 
hymn was finished some one touched me on the arm 
and handed me a piece of paper with my name on 
the back. Inside were these words, " I think you 
ought to preach to-night from Matthew, xxii, nth 
and T2th verses. " I threw it on the floor disgusted, 
saying "who is giving me a text?" Immediately 
the impression came, " Do I not use thee to tell others 
what to do? May I not use one of my children to 
tell thee what thy duty is?" I opened the paper, 
turned to the reference, and in a moment the light 
shone upon the text and it took hold on me. Turn- 
ing to the brethren, I said, "The Lord has settled 
it. I will preach. " As soon as the singing stopped 
I rose, and for more than half an hour had won- 
derful liberty in giving the message. As I sat down, 



212 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

a lawyer by the name of J. R. Bulla, who sat in front 
of me, a man of the world, rose, and looking me in 
the face said, "You have knocked the last prop 
from under me; I surrender to the Lord Jesus 
Christ." And fell on his knees. Others followed. 

This dear man was saved, joined our meeting, 
lived a Christian life, and died several years later 
in the triumph of faith. He had a wife and two 
daughters who were Christians. The eldest daughter 
was specially concerned for the spiritual welfare 
of her father and had spoken to me about him 
several times during the meetings. Some three 
months after this, as I was walking by their home, 
we met. She came up to me and said, "Brother 
Jay, do you know who gave you the text you 
preached from the night my father was converted? " 
Replying, I said, "No, but I expect thee did." I 
had not thought of her before, though I had often 
wished that I did know. She became serious and 
replied, "Come into the house and I will tell you all 
about it." She said, "I was so burdened for the 
salvation of my father that I could scarcely eat or 
sleep. I knew he was under conviction and that he 
was going away the next day to be gone a month, 
I felt if he got under the influence of his old com- 
panions he would settle back into his old habits. 
With these thoughts I departed for the afternoon 
prayer-meeting, but the burden was so great that I 
turned back, went to my room, locked the door, and 
on my knees for a long time asked God to save my 
father. He told me if Allen Ja}^ would preach from 
Matthew, xxii, ii and la that night my father would 
be saved. I rose, went to my desk and wrote a 
letter to you asking you to do so. When the bell 



REVIVALS IN NORTH CAROLINA 213 

rang for the night's service I started to the church, 
but on the way I began to reason that you were a 
Quaker preacher and did not believe in having a text 
given to you and that here I was, a young girl going 
to tell you what to preach about. I felt afraid that 
it would insult you, and listening to my fears, I tore 
the letter up and went on, praying that the Lord 
would make you preach that text. So when that 
minister rose and said that you could not preach 
that night, I secretly exclaimed, *0 Lord, what 
shall I do?' The answer was, 'I told thee what 
to do and thee refused. Thy father's blood will be 
on thee.' In my desperation I wrote on the fly- 
leaf of my hymn book the words I sent you, tore 
it out, doubled it up, wrote your name on the outside 
and sent it through the crowd to you. I was so 
excited I forgot to sign my name. M3/ heart leaped 
for joy when you rose with the text. It was a glori- 
ous night to me and to our household. " The dear 
girl died a few years later. After her death I told 
her father about it and he said, " I knew she was 
praying for me." 

Not long after this Mary Moon (now Mary M. 
Meredith) came into North Carolina and labored as 
an evangelist, and being a woman she opened the 
way for other women and did a good work. Her 
work is remembered by many. Later there were 
others who came who had the evangelistic gift, such 
as John Y. Hoover, of Iowa, who did good service 
in gathering into the church. Still later, Fernando 
G. Cartland and his wife, Abby Cartland, labored 
efficiently, and later yet James Jones has labored 
to enlarge the borders of North Carolina Yearly 
Meeting. Of their own membership, Albert Peele, 



2 14 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

Mary Woody, Mary Cartland and others have 
done royal ser^dce. These have come to the front 
since the days of the Baltimore Association, and it 
is cause for rejoicing that others are coming for- 
ward in the ministry, missionary, and other fields 
of religious labor in the various branches of church 
work. The Master of the vineyard knows who have 
been instrumental in laying the foundation of this 
work. He will divide the sheaves with a loving 
and impartial hand. 

Enthusiasm of Parents and Children for Education 

Having spoken of the teachers and their work, it 
is but just to mention the part taken by the parents 
and their children in this building-up process. Many 
of the parents had labored hard and struggled imder 
many privations to care for their children during 
the war. When the war closed and they began to 
get started in their new life, their minds turned to 
their children, who had not had any opportunity 
for education during those long years of trial and 
darkness. But few schools were kept up in the 
South. The boarding-school at New Garden con- 
tinued through the war, and the Friends Academy 
at Belvidere was in operation most of the time. 
With these exceptions but few schools were in oper- 
ation among Friends or others. At the close of the 
war what public school funds there were had been 
lost, so that parents turned to the association and 
said, "We can work our way and care for our fam- 
ilies if the association will assist us to educate oiir 
children. They are our hope for the future. ' ' Many 
of them made heroic efforts to keep their children 
in school. Many bright examples of trust and faith 



REVIVALS IN NORTH CAROLINA 215 

came under my observation. One day after a meet- 
ing in the school, a mother invited me to go home 
with her to dinner. When the time came to sit 
down to eat we gathered around the table and there 
were three pieces of back-bone of a pig, some corn 
bread, and cold water. After the children had all 
bowed their heads and folded their hands, she re- 
quested me to ask the blessing upon the meal. While 
we were eating she talked of the blessings of her 
Heavenly Father — how he had preserved her and the 
children. She pointed out where General Sherman 
had pitched his tent over night, and the road in 
front of her house still showed the marks where the 
heavy artillery had been hauled along, but she had 
been preserved through it all and now her children 
were actually going to school and learning to read. 
Another poor widow told how during the summer, 
when her vegetables and little patch of corn were 
all drying up for the want of rain, she could not 
sleep one night, and getting out of bed, began to pray 
for rain. She then remembered that sometimes she 
had done wrong and was fearful that God would 
not hear her on account of her transgressions. She 
then woke up her three little children, who she felt 
were innocent, thinking that perhaps God would hear 
their prayers. When they had knelt with her she 
told them to ask God to send rain, and she believed 
the Heavenly Father would hear their childish 
prayers. While they were praying the rain began 
to fall upon the clapboard roof of the cabin. To her 
childlike faith it was a direct answer to prayer, and 
she could not speak of it without shedding tears of 
joy. One more instance, among others, was that of a 
poor widow with six children, who was struggling to 



2i6 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

educate them. She had about half an acre of ground 
from which she and her children cleared off the trash 
and then with a hoe and shovels they loosened up 
the soil. She then sowed it with wheat , and with 
Q. rake and hoe covered it up. Then with the chil- 
dren she asked God to bless it and cause it to bring 
forth a good crop, and she covenanted with Him 
that He should have one- tenth of the income. It 
was a beautiful little patch of wheat, so much so that 
the neighbors talked about it. When harvest came 
they cut it the best they cotild, and with a flail beat 
it out on the old bam floor. When they had cleaned 
it all there were ten half bushels of good wheat. 
The last half bushel was heaping full, and she pro- 
posed to the children that they give that one to the 
Lord. Not knowing how to use it to the best advan- 
tage, she brought it to our house saying that I would 
know how to use it to do the most good. My wife, 
knowing her condition, suggested that perhaps it 
would be right for her to keep it to help clothe and 
feed her children during the coming winter, but she 
insisted that it was not hers, that it belonged to 
the Lord and that she must leave it with me to 
dispose of in a way that would honor Him. Just 
then I came in, and after listening to her story, told 
her I would do with it as she requested, and then 
I had the pleasure of saying to her, " Here is a 
twenty-dollar bill that the Lord has sent thee, for 
yesterday morning, as I was leaving the home of a 
Christian woman in New York, she handed me this . 
twenty-dollar bill for thee, as she had been in thy 
home and knew of thy need." Her reply was, "I 
knew the Lord would do his part, and now he has 
given me twentvfold. " 



REVIVALS IN NORTH CAROLINA 217 

While giving a few instances illustrating the faith 
of a few parents, there were a far greater number 
who manifested this life of quiet confidence in God 
in their homes, never murmuring or complaining 
as they saw their property destroyed by the ravages 
of war. They bore with sweet resignation the odium 
that was heaped upon them and their families by 
the enemies of their peace principles, and as I 
sat and talked with them and listened to their tales 
of true heroism, I was often impressed with their 
simple narratives. They never spoke of their acts 
in a way that would lead me to think they had done 
anything much, but simply had done their duty, 
which is a sign of true greatness. Sham heroism 
is always watching to see if it is going to be praised 
for what it is doing. Self is the forefront, always 
desirous of coming out on top in the eyes of its 
friends. Not so were these leading Friends of 
North Carolina. They were simply faithful unto 
their Master. These lessons were not lost upon their 
children. They caught the spirit of endurance and 
of self-denying lives. They were ready to do their 
duty when the opportunity was offered. When the 
opportunity came for them to go to school they car- 
ried this spirit into the schoolroom. So v/hen the 
association opened the schools in different neighbor- 
hoods, the children were ready to fill them up. 
There was no need of a truant officer in such neigh- 
borhoods. It has been my privilege to be connected 
with institutions of learning for more than fifty 
years, first at Farmers' Institute, then in the asso- 
ciation work in North Carolina, then at Providence, 
Rhode Island, and now for the last thirty years with 
Earlham College. I have no hesitation in saying 



2i8 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

that I have never seen scholars, old or young, who 
were more keen to learn or who made better prog- 
ress in their studies than these in North Carolina. 
They caught the spirit of education and had a 
determination to make up for lost time. Many of 
these were young men and young women who had 
missed four or five years that they should have had 
in school. Speaking one day to a little boy of 
about twelve and his sister, perhaps ten, who had 
to walk four miles to school through the woods, I 
asked them what time they left home in the morn- 
ing. The reply was, "We do not know; we have 
no clock, but the stars were still shining when we 
started. " The teacher said they were nearly always 
on time. Those children have grown up and are 
making their mark in the Church to-day. Many 
walked two and three miles. Is it to be wondered 
at that with such teachers and such earnest scholars, 
backed up by the parents who were encouraging the 
work, and with the united prayers of the Church, 
that the work of the Baltimore Association was a 
success? It could not have been otherwise. 



Chapter XXIII 

FINAL WORK OF THE BALTIMORE 
ASSOCIATION 

The Model Farm 

Soon after the educational work was under way 
the association conceived the idea of trying to 
improve and develop the agricultural resources of 
the State. On this subject it made the following 
record: "The low and unremunerative state of 
agriculture in North Carolina exercises a very de- 
pressing influence upon every effort to ameliorate 
the physical and educational condition of her peo- 
ple. Every other interest, being essentially depend- 
ent upon this, languishes under the inadequate 
reward of the tiller of the soil. Under this influence 
the disposition to leave the State after the close of 
the war had scarcely any limit except the inability 
to do so. To educate and enlighten her people with- 
out at the same time demonstrating the possibility 
of greater returns for labor would still further tend 
to her depopulation. A work so general in its char- 
acter could not fail to stimulate Friends to desire 
improved agriculture. There had been a continual 
pressure upon us to establish a model farm and to 
place among them a practical farmer who should, 
by improved farming implements, artificial manures, 
introduction of grasses, selected seed, and stock 
demonstrate to their eyes the great neglected wealth 

(219) 



2 20 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

of the soil, awaiting only the call of improved 
cultivation; and who, by the establishment of 
agricultural clubs within the limits of each quarterly 
meeting, should stimulate a spirit of inquiry and 
enterprise which would be rewarded by the best 
practical results. We have accordingly purchased a 
farm formerly owned by that honored and devoted 
servant of Christ, the late Nathan Hunt, at Spring- 
field, on the dividing line between Guilford and 
Randolph Counties. ' ' This farm was bought in 1 86 7 , 
after much care and investigation, Francis T. King 
examining it two or three times himself, with several 
farmers from Maryland and Pennsylvania. It 
contained about two hundred acres and cost 
$4,400. The Friends at Springfield were so 
anxious to have it located there that they paid $700 
towards it. There was a small stream of water run- 
ning through this farm upon which they erected a 
bone mill, believed to be the first bone mill erected 
in the South. By this means they secured bone dust 
to use as fertilizer. They selected as the superin- 
tendent of the agricultural work William A. Samp- 
son, of Maine, who took charge of the farm, erected a 
model dwelling house upon it, and a barn built after 
the most approved plan. Fourth month 12, 1869, 
F. T. King wrote to his friend Samuel Bewley, in 
Ireland, saying that "After three years' duration it 
has made wonderful progress, revolutionizing the 
whole neighborhood. I often rejoice in tears at this 
true manifestation of true Christian citizenship on 
the part of men who were despised for a century past 
and who suffered patiently for conscience's sake, now 
returning good for evil. There are now seventeen 
agricultural clubs with a membership of over fifteen 



FINAL WORK 221 

hundred. They meet monthly. We make this 
department nearly self-sustaining. It embraces 
a model farm, agricultural implements and seed 
department, four hundred and fifty subscribers 
to agricultural papers, all under the care of our 
superintendent, who is a farmer and a lecturer. He 
has solved the grass question, for in 1867 he imported 
and sold at cost 500 pounds of clover seed; in 1868, 
5,000 pounds; and in 1869, 19,880 pounds." The 
superintendent, in his fourth annual report, in 1871, 
writes to the association: "From a careful estimate, 
I am satisfied that over 10,000 acres have been suc- 
cessfully sown with clover in consequence of the 
establishment of your farm. I have hulled and 
cleaned several lots of clover seed for various persons 
this fall and now have one which was brought ten or 
twelve miles to be cleaned. By the sale of improved 
implements, several reapers, mowers, wheelrakes, 
ploughs, both iron and cast steel, cultivators, clover 
seed gatherers, etc., have been supplied by me to the 
farmers, greatly to their satisfaction. There is music 
in the click of a mowing machine which to the ear 
of a progressive man is more potent than the words 
of an orator, and which is proved in every neighbor- 
hood where one is carried. It instantly suggests the 
propriety of removing all stumps, stones, sprouts; 
underdraining the wet places so the horses can travel 
better ; better ploughing to insure a smooth surface ; 
all these improvements speedily followed. Hardly 
a day passes without some stranger visiting the farm, 
and in spring time they come in great numbers, so 
that during the second and third months it takes 
nearly all my time to attend to them. During the 
last year it was estimated that something over one 



222 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

thousand persons visited the farm. Of the improved 

stock we now have five head of thoroughbred Alder- 
neys, the gifts of Charles L. Sharpless, of Philadel- 
phia; James Taylor and Joseph B. Cooper, of New 
Jersey, and James Carey and James W. Tyson, of 
Baltimore." This farm was named by the associa- 
tion Swarthmore Farm, but it became known far and 
wide as the Model Farm. In 1872, Francis T. King 
writes: "The effect of our operations on the com- 
mimity has been gratifying and can be seen for fifty 
miles around. About 15,000 acres have been sown 
with clover, in the surrounding counties, since our 
operations commenced. Many improved imple- 
ments have been introduced. Instead of the scythe 
and cradle are frequently seen the mower and the 
reaper. A large number of people from all parts of 
the State continue to visit the farm to see for them- 
selves the new way, and they very generally express 
themselves as satisfied that it is an improvement on 
the old exhaustive system. The effects of our educa- 
tional and agricultural efforts in staying the tide of 
emigration to the West is very apparent and has 
already saved to North Carolina hundreds of her best 
citizens." 

Close of the Work of the Baltimore Association 

When the time came that the association felt i:^ 
had done its duty in the agricultural department, 
the farm was sold and the proceeds used to advance 
the educational interests of what is now known as 
Guilford College. At the same time they arranged 
to close their care of the educational work and to 
turn it over to the supervision of North Carolina 
Yearly Meeting. In my final report I find the fol- 



FINAL WORK 223 

lowing closing paragraph : " In bringing this, my last, 
report to a close, I desire to record my high appre- 
ciation of the services of our teachers. To their 
devoted and earnest labors in a great measure is due 
the success of this noble work, a work of seven years, 
which I believe will stand out prominently in the 
history of our society in the South. Permit me to 
suggest the propriety of publishing a brief history of 
it, which I believe would be deeply interesting and 
useful. In conclusion, it is with deep regret that 
I take leave of the work in the prosecution of which 
I have become so closely united with the dear teach- 
ers and Friends with whom I have labored. I desire 
also to express my gratitude to you for your con- 
fidence and support. I feel thankful that I have 
had even a small part in this good cause. May the 
Divine blessing continue to rest upon you and the 
State that has been the scene of this work is the 
prayer of your friend." 

We find upon the records of the association this 
closing minute: *'At a called meeting of the Balti- 
more Association of Friends to Advise and Assist 
Friends of the Southern States, held at Friends 
Meeting House, corner of Eutaw and Montmient 
Streets, Baltimore, Second month 12, 1891, pres- 
ent Francis T. King, Secretary John C. Thomas, 
Treasurer Jesse Tyson and thirteen members, it was 
resolved that as the objects of the association have 
been accomplished and no further reason exists for 
its continuance, the said association is hereby dis- 
solved. The books and papers of the association are 
to be placed with the records of Baltimore Yearly 
Meeting of Friends. The secretary was directed to 
send a copy of these minutes to the Provident Life 



2 24 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

and Trust Company of Philadelphia. Then ad- 
journed. John C. Thomas, Secretary." 

The question has often been asked, how much 
money did the association expend in its work and 
where did it come from? It has been hard to find 
a definite answer to this question, but after con- 
siderable research I believe the following figures 
approximately yield the facts in the case: 

For physical relief, including cost of the 

Model Farm $ 36,000.00 

Friends schools 72,000.00 

Guilford College 23,000.00 

Building and repairing meeting-house 7,300.00 

A total of $138,300.00 

As nearly as I can ascertain, this amount was 
divided among the members of the different yearly 
meetings as follows : 

London Yearly Meeting $ 38,750.00 

Dublin 16,250.00 

New England 9,000.00 

New York 10,200.00 

Philadelphia 30,150.00 

Baltimore 14,700.00 

Ohio 1,600.00 

Indiana 9,750.00 

Iowa 2,400.00 

Western 5,500.00 

Total $138,300.00 

Superintendent of Education for North Carolina 
Yearly Meeting 

Now, as the Baltimore Association had turned 
over the educational work to the yearly meeting, it 
was necessary that some one should have the superin- 



FINAL WORK 225 



tendence of the work. The yearly meeting requested 
that I should hold that position for one year longer, 
so I continued to look after the work. It gave me an 
opportunity to visit all the meetings and schools, 
both the day schools and the First-day schools, as 
there was a school in each meeting in the yearly 
meeting, and all the Friends children were in these 
schools. Each monthly meeting appointed a com- 
mittee to have the care of the schools within its 
limits. This to me was a pleasant service, laying 
down the burdens on the shoulders of those prepared 
to receive them, feeling that the work would be 
continued until the public school system would 
be fully organized and take the education of the 
children throughout the State under its care. Our 
schools did much to stimulate the State in building 
up its first public school system, and our normal 
schools laid the foundation for the splendid normal 
school they now have. In the midst of our work the 
Superintendent of Education of the State died, and 
the Governor, who had to appoint some one to fill 
out the term of his office, sent for me, but I told him 
plainly that I could do the State more good to keep 
out of politics in those reconstruction days. I now 
feel that it was a wise conclusion. It was at a time 
when carpet-bag politics were at their height, and 
it would have thrown a suspicion over my work had 
I taken a public office. As it was, I was doing 
this farewell work with the satisfaction that what 
had been done was from a sense of duty, with only 
one thing in view — the good of the cause. 



15 



Chapter XXIV 
DR. NEREUS MENDENHALL 

Allusion has been made in these pages while 
speaking of the Baltimore Association work to Dr. 
Nereus Mendenhall and Delphina E. Mendenhall. 
Each of these persons was of such prominence in the 
affairs of North Carolina Yearly Meeting and the 
surrounding country that I have thought a little 
fiirther account of their lives would be of interest 
and not out of place in the history of the period 
which is tinder consideration. 

Dr. Nereus Mendenhall, the third child of Rich- 
ard and Mary Pegg Mendenhall, was bom at the old 
homestead in Jamestown, N. C, on the 14th of 
August, 1 81 9. Early in life he manifested a decided 
interest in literary and religious matters. His studies 
were watchfully encouraged by his father, who was 
himself a fine classical scholar. At the age of thir- 
teen Nereus entered a printing office in Greensboro 
and in this congenial occupation furthered his love 
of learning and at the same time saved money to 
enable him to enter Haverford School, now Haver- 
ford College, which he did in 1837. By earnest 
application he was enabled to graduate in 1839, 
thus- crowding a four years' course into two years, 
a very unwise procedure which doubtless bore fruit 
in after years. 

That the spiritual vision was cleared as well as 
the intellectual life invigorated is shown by the fol- 

(226) 



DR. NEREUS MENDENHALL 227 

lowing little testimony given by him near the close 
of his life to his dear friend and classmate, Dr. 
Richard Randolph, of Philadelphia. 

It will be noted that in this as in many other 
instances the enlightenment came through the de- 
voted study of the Holy Scriptures, of which to his 
dying day he was a tireless student. His little Greek 
Testament lying on the stand beside his bed was 
one of the few books read during his last illness. 

"The revelation which in my little dormitory at 
Haverford came to me as alone by the narrow 
window I read Psalm 34-ic, 'The young lions do 
lack and suffer hunger, but they that seek the Lord 
shall not want any good thing ' ; however unable 
at some times to see how it is true, from that time 
to the present I have never relinquished nor ceased 
to cherish." 

Upon his graduation from Haverford he took 
the place as principal of Friends Boarding-School 
at New Garden. The life was arduous, for in those 
days the boards had the idea, not yet wholly out- 
grown, that the fiber of teachers was rubber and 
steel and that the occupation of teaching was such 
an easy task that the more work which could be 
piled on the better. Notwithstanding his multi- 
farious duties, which lasted from early morning until 
the students were in bed asleep, he prepared him- 
self to enter Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, 
from which institution he graduated in 1845. 

Although he practiced medicine successfully for 
several years, the strain was too severe for one of 
his sensitive and sympathetic nature, and he retired 
permanently from the profession after five or six 
years. 



228 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

In a letter to a friend written about this time he 
said that he believed teaching to be his God-given 
calling and that he always felt as if he were wasting 
his time when he was otherwise employed. During 
the years in which he was practicing medicine he 
was issuing a small educational paper and doing all 
he could to promote public education. 

In 185 1 he married Oriana Wilson, an own cousin 
of Delphina Alendenhall, who had for several years 
lived in her home and been one of her chief aids in the 
management of her affairs. She was a very ener- 
getic, capable woman with a well-balanced mind and 
sterling character. 

Dr. Mendenhall had been almost continuously 
connected with the boarding-school either as teacher, 
superintendent or trustee. His always delicate 
health would not permit of several consecutive 
years in the schoolroom, and he varied his employ- 
ment from time to time by engaging in civil engineer- 
ing, the outdoor exercise and tent life being the best 
tonic available. He was thus occupied during the 
years immediately preceding the Civil War, his 
home being in the pleasant little village of Florence, 
N. C, one mile from Deep River Meeting-house. 

In the confusion and distress incident to the 
outbreak of the war the boarding-school was left 
without a teacher. Numbers of Friends had already . 
gone West and others were going, and the whole 
country was in a turmoil. The trustees appealed 
to Dr. Mendenhall to again take charge of the school. 
He consented to do so and moved his family into 
the farmhouse, the first house built upon what is 
now the college property. 

The war cloud gathered with alarming velocity, 



DR. NEREUS MENDENHALL 229 

and as many of the Friends and relatives of the 
family were joining the general migration, the 
question as to what was his duty in the matter 
became a pressing one. 

In the West was freedom from the ever-pressing 
burdens which all antislavery men were compelled 
to bear in slave communities. He was very averse 
to bringing up his daughters in the midst of slavery. 
The prospect for lucrative employment was alluring 
and the great claims of those he had known and 
loved from childhood beckoned him away. 

In the South war, trial and sacrifice, hardship 
and an uncertain subsistence for him and his. The 
furniture was sold, the boxes packed and at the 
station, and the family ready to leave on the morrow, 
when the responsibility of abandoning the school 
which would be left without a teacher and must of 
necessity be closed so oppressed him that in earnest 
prayer he laid the matter before the Lord and was 
fully convinced that it was the will of God for him 
to remain and face the consequences, be they what 
they might. 

His wife was perfectly willing to abandon the 
undertaking and return to the old farmhouse with 
her little flock and again gather such household 
goods as were indispensable in the effort to make a 
home which would live in the minds of her children 
while life lasted. 

As a result of this action the school was never 
closed but continued in operation all through the 
Civil War, the only educational institution in the 
State which was able to breast the storms of that 
terrific time. 

During this period Dr. Mendenhall was active 



2 30 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

in behalf of Friends who were either drafted or 
conscripted and went several times to Richmond to 
interview the Confederate authorities. He ap- 
pealed to Jefferson Davis in person and was most 
kindly received and courteously listened to by him. 
While he was tmable to secure relief which was 
perfectly satisfactory, the Friends were granted the 
privilege of buying their freedom from military 
service by the payment of $500 in Confederate 
money. At one time when addressing a committee 
to whom the matter was referred, it was said Dr. 
Mendenhall made a most remarkable speech, which 
held the Confederate legislators spellbound by the 
force of its argument against war. During these 
years and several succeeding years he was clerk of 
the yearly meeting. 

Soon after the close of the war he bought a farm 
near Deep River Meeting-house and removed to 
that place. For two or three years he conducted a 
monthly meeting school and then again engaged in 
civil engineering, an occupation which always 
brought renewed health and vigor. 

His political affiliations had always been " imion" 
and antislavery, but din-ing the terrible reconstruc- 
tion period he allied himself with that party which 
alone cared whether the South sank and went to 
ruin or survived as a part of the national life. He 
was elected several times to the Legislature of the 
State and while there served faithfully the interests 
of the people. Now he and his friend, Dr. William 
Nicholson, who was also a member of the Legislature, 
were on the committee to write the new constitution 
for the State and did much towards giving the State 
the constitution that it now has. Particularly did 



DR. NEREUS MENDALL 231 

Dr. Mendenhall labor in the cause of education and 
for the improvement in the care of the insane, which 
latter class were in a most pitiable condition, con- 
fined in jails and county houses without proper care 
or right medical attention. 

When the State decided to provide additional 
room by the erection of a new hospital at Morganton, 
Dr. Mendenhall insisted that it be called a hospital 
and not an asylum, insanity being a disease and not a 
possession. 

He was made a member of the very important 
committee to whom the erection and equipment of 
this building was entrusted. His services on this 
board were of the greatest importance, both in the 
arrangement of the hospital and in the thoroughness 
of its construction. He was very watchful that no 
ill-made bricks or inferior material should have a 
place in the building. 

After he retired from all other outside employ- 
ment he still served on the Educational Board of 
Guilford County and interested himself in the public 
schools. No one was more interested in the work of 
the Baltimore Association than he. Francis T. King 
often sought his counsel and advice in the inception 
of the work. His interest and delight in the normal 
schools inaugurated was an inspiration to those in 
charge. From time to time as invited he was will- 
ing to assist by lectures, readings, or impromptu 
speeches. In later life he was for a time connected 
with Penn Charter School of Philadelphia and then 
as instructor and superintendent of Haverford 
College. Three years he enjoyed greatly in the 
renewal of old friendships, and the formation of many 
new and congenial ones. 



232 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

His interest in religious matters strengthened as 
the years went by and his whole nature mellowed 
and ripened. The vSociety of Friends was always 
one of his chief concerns. 

With very much of what was introduced after 
the close of the war he had no sympathy. The 
crude religious instruction, coupled with the uncul- 
tured expressions which came in various emotional 
groans and gestures, did not appeal to one who had 
not only experienced the deep things of God per- 
sonally, but had made himself acquainted with the 
breadth of human history and the development 
of the mind of man. 

His last years were spent at Guilford College, 
where he bought a cottage home for himself and 
wife that they might be near their daughters, four 
of whom were living in or near the College. These 
three years he greatly enjoyed. Frequently he 
lectured to the students, and his little library was 
a rendezvous for any who wished to consult the 
doctor on literar}^ or religious subjects. After the 
death of his wife in 1890 his own health steadily 
declined until his death in October of 1893. 

His influence in North Carolina Yearly Meeting 
can scarcely be estimated, and many are still living 
who rejoice to call him teacher. 



Chapter XXV 
DELPHINA E. MENDENHALL 

Delphina E. Mendenhall at the time I knew her. 
was a widow living on the large estate bequeathed 
her by her husband, George C. Mendenhall, a 
distinguished lawyer and legislator of the State. 

He was birthright member of the Society of 
Friends, but was disowned, as were hundreds of 
others, by the suicidal policy of the stringent mar- 
riage rules of the day. His first wife besides not 
being a Friend was the owner of a large number of 
slaves. She was a kindly, sensitive woman and was 
strangely attached to and influenced by the elder 
brother of her husband, Richard Mendenhall, who 
was all of his mature years a leader in the yearly 
meeting and one of the very first to express openly 
antislavery views and labor for the manumission 
of slaves. Eliza Dunn Mendenhall sympathized with 
these views and wished her own slaves liberated, and 
had it not been for the hasty, injudicious action of 
the Friends in disowning her husband would have 
most likely become a Friend herself. 

Her early death left George Mendenhall with an 
infant son and a colony of negroes. His home was 
a plantation which had been deeded to his grand- 
father by the Earl of Granville, to whom Carolina 
had been ceded by the English Crown. A grist 
mill, a sawmill, a blacksmith shop, a carpenter shop 
and a large farm could not give employment to all 
of his negroes and he was obliged to send many of 

(233) 



234 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

them from home to labor for others, a thing he very- 
much deprecated. Such were looked after closely 
and if abused brought home. The negroes were 
often bought by him because they begged him to 
become their master, but not one was ever sold. 
To this home he brought as his second wife one of the 
loveliest women who has ever graced the Quaker 
garb or adorned the high seat in a Friends meeting- 
house. Why she was not disowned was a wonder, 
but she was not, and from that time until the day of 
her death that home was a retreat and a refreshment 
for Friends from far and near. 

The most generous and even lavish hospitality 
was dispensed to the equal enjoyment of husband 
and wife. The coaches and barouches were always 
ready to take either the ministers or the guests to 
whatever Friends meeting was in progress, the master 
himself often occupying the seat with the coachman 
if the inside were full of plain bonnets and broad 
brimmed hats. 

The maiden name of Delphina Mendenhall was 
Gardner. Her father, Barzilla Gardner, had died 
while the children were very small and in after 
years her mother married William Long, a lawyer 
of prominence, who beautifully filled the place of 
father to her two daughters. When George Men- 
denhall asked Mary Wilson Long for her consent to 
the marriage, she replied that her only objection 
was the fact that he owned slaves. To this he re- 
plied that he regretted this fact as much as she could 
and that he intended to liberate them as rapidly as 
he could settle them comfortably upon the free soil 
of Ohio. This then became the combined effort of 
these two congenial spirits. 



DELPHINA E. MENDENHALL 23s 

The way was difficult and very much more care 
was necessary than many antislavery people in the 
North realized. These people were children in their 
experiences ; unaccustomed to provide for themselves, 
it was necessary to train them to some useful handi- 
craft and fit them to lead independent lives. They 
could not be liberated in the South, and careful 
conduct was necessary to bring them safely to Ohio. 
Once there, it would be cruelty to leave them to the 
haphazard arrangements of their own devising. 
Group by group, as fast as they could be made ready 
and be removed without breaking up families and the 
master could find time for the undertaking, the 
slaves were being taken to freedom. Both master 
and mistress accompanied them and remained with 
them in Ohio until all were secured in some sustain- 
ing situation, then back again to prepare others for 
the journey. 

George Mendenhall had an extensive law practice 
in the State, and the education of his wife had been so 
broad and thorough that she became of the greatest 
assistance to him in his work at a time when ste- 
nographers and typewriters were unknown. It was 
said of her in after years that she knew as much law 
as he did. With all of these duties and the manage- 
ment of the immense household and ceaseless enter- 
tainment for the lawyers, judges and Governors, 
which were as frequent guests as the "visiting 
Friends," she still found time not only to attend 
Deep River Meeting regularly and participate in the 
business and burden bearing of the Church, but to 
keep herself well informed upon the topics of the day 
and, better still, to study the best literature of the 
world, including a loving, reverent study of the Bible. 



236 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

She was a poet herself of no mean order and many 
of her poems may be found in the volumes of the 
Friends Review signed D. or D. E. M. These are 
full of the keen appreciation of the beautiful in 
nature and in human life, which was one of her 
most striking characteristics. 

With now and then a visit to Philadelphia or some 
other point in the North and West, and frequent 
journeys with her husband on legal business through 
the surrounding counties of their native State, many 
fruitful, beneficent years glided by. The war cloud 
began to gather and they were eager to get the re- 
mainder of their slaves to Ohio, but before the cloud 
burst in fury and bloodshed George Mendenhall 
was gone — drowned, on his way to a distant court, in 
the swollen waters of the treacherous Uwhwuaria. 
Stunned beyond all telling, stricken to the heart over 
her personal loss and loneliness, Delphina endeavored 
to execute her husband's will in regard to the slaves 
and started the last band on the journey towards 
freedom. They did not reach the Ohio River, but 
were met by hostile officers in Virginia and com- 
pelled to return to their old home. Then the war 
closed her in. The son of George Mendenhall 
became her most bitter antagonist, because he re- 
garded the negroes as his property and disregarded 
the expressed desire of his father that they should 
be freed. Under all of these difficulties she bore 
herself as a prophetess of old might have done and 
was supported by the clearest sense of the divine 
presence. The care of such a household during the 
perilous days of the war was a burden great enough 
to tax the powers of the strongest men, but she 
patiently met the days as best she could and cared 



DELPHINA E. MENDENHALL 237 

lovingly and tenderly for every one and all loved 
her. 

Property depreciated, state bonds became just 
so much paper, horses died and there was no money 
with which to purchase new ones. Many mouths 
were to be filled, many persons to be clothed. 
Her native resources were great and she managed 
to control matters until relief came at the surrender. 

Although at the close of the war her mode of life 
was almost entirely changed and she was reduced to 
one small carriage, one horse and a little negro for 
driver, she never slackened her attendance from 
meeting and her saintly face in the gallery of the old 
Deep River Meeting-house is one of the most pre- 
cious memories to many a young man and woman in 
the body of the meeting. 

Her influence over the young people was un- 
bounded, because they all knew that she loved 
them and sympathized with their feelings. She 
was always ready to join in the meeting of their 
literary clubs and to encourage them to go forward 
in their educational efforts. No one could so enter- 
tain a roomful of young people with charming remi- 
niscences or recite verses or exhibit quick repartee 
or sweet-spirited jest. 

Her face and form were as beautiful as her char- 
acter and her bearing as queenly as Elizabeth Fry's 
must have been if the portraits are a correct repre- 
sentation. The Friends dress was wonderfully be- 
coming and the soft material and shining silk worn 
in antebellum days adorned her person with- 
out attracting the thoughts from herself to her 
clothes. 

She was very averse to contention in a Friends 



238 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

meeting and seldom participated in a debate. 
Once when such had been rather more heated than 
loving, after meeting she remarked, " It worried me. 
I wished that I were out of the gallery and sitting 
down there between M. W. and his wife." These 
persons had been married but a few days and no 
doubt were very happy and contented with them- 
selves, and their company would have been more to 
her taste than that of wrangling elders. She ab- 
horred "tale-bearing and detraction" and some of 
her most forceful expressions were directed against 
this sin. 

For years she was clerk of North Carolina Meeting 
and a most competent one. Afterwards during the 
remainder of her life she sat at the head of the 
woman's meeting. Her expressions were full and 
clear, for she had the mind of Christ and clothed her 
thoughts in perfect English. 

Her interest in the work of the Baltimore Associa- 
tion and her enthusiasm over its progress were un- 
bounded, and in every way possible she aided in 
advancing the cause. As Ezra Header was leaving 
his New England home to come South and engage 
in the work of teaching in the schools of the Associa- 
tion and had told John G. Whittier, an old friend of 
his family, that he intended first to go to the home 
of Delphina Mendenhall, Whittier said, " Delphina — 
why, she is a whole quarterly meeting in herself. ' ' 

When the summons came to come up higher 
she was so ready and willing to go as to almost hurt 
those who loved her. Not a shadow in her way, 
not a wish in her mind to linger, ready, willing, 
almost jubilant, she entered into her rest with the 
request that her dear nephew, Nereus Mendenhall, 



DELPHINA E. MENDENHALL 239 

who had loyally stood by her in every emergency, 
should close her peaceful eyes. 

At the funeral a near relative was heard to say, 
"I do not feel that we have any more right to be 
seated near her than any one else in this room, for all 
are chief mourners. ' ' 

The household is scattered, the old home place 
sold and in the possession of strangers, but her 
influence and the benediction of her love and life live 
on and can never perish. 



Chapter XXVI 

PREPARATIONS FOR A VISIT TO GREAT 
BRITAIN 

During the summer of 1874, having held the 
Bible conference and closed the normal school, my 
wife and I took our family and went West to our old 
home for a visit to our parents and many relatives. 
It was a pleasant visit. I had a minute to attend 
Western and Indiana Yearly Meetings. It was on 
this visit that I attended the second general meeting 
held by Indiana Yearly Meeting, at Back Creek, in 
the limits of northern quarter. It proved a blessing 
to many and opened the door to continue the work 
along that line. 

For a nimiber of years the feeling had rested 
with me that at some future time it would be right 
for me to visit, in the love of the Gospel, Friends 
across the ocean. One day, while sitting in Indiana 
Yearly Meeting, I believed it right to ask the privi- 
lege of paying a visit to the women's meeting, which 
was freely granted. When I returned and took my 
seat it came upon me with an overwhelming force 
that the time had now come for me to make prepara- 
tions for that religious serv^ice on the other side of the 
ocean. The next thirty minutes was a time of great 
spiritual conflict. My infirmities, leaving my family 
in North Carolina, away from all relatives, going 
among those whom I had never seen, and many other 
things came before me, but in thirty minutes the 

(240) 



VISIT TO GREAT BRITAIN 241 

matter was settled ; the conflict was over ; I had said 
"yes." Immediately there was a calm, and I 
began to plan how to make the arrangements. At 
the close of the session I told my father that I wished 
to walk with him to town, and told him what I had 
decided to do. We walked in silence until we 
reached the postoffice, when he said: "I do not 
feel like discouraging thee. On the other hand, if I 
had known it in time, I do not know but what I 
would have gotten ready and gone with thee." 
That night I wrote and mailed a letter to our 
monthly meeting at Springfield, North Carolina, 
requesting a minute liberating me to visit London 
and Dublin Yearly Meetings and the yearly meet- 
ings in Norway, and the meetings and Friends 
belonging to them as the way might open, and to 
such other service as might appear right. When 
we returned to North Carolina, I found that the 
monthly meeting had endorsed my concern, and the 
following week the quarterly meeting did the same. 
A few days later I laid the matter before the select 
yearly meeting, and then, in accordance with the 
discipline at that time, I brought it before a joint 
session of the yearly meeting at large, which proved 
to be a time of great spiritual blessing, and I wish 
to mention one thing especially which was a great 
comfort to me : A large number of the young people 
with much feeling expressed their unity and sym- 
pathy with me and my concern. This was in the 
Eleventh month. The next few weeks were devoted 
to completing my arrangements. My passage was 
engaged on the steamer Ohio, that sailed from 
Philadelphia the first of Third month, 1875. My 
dear friends, Francis T. King, of Baltimore, and James 

16 



242 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

M. Whitall, of Philadelphia, were particularly helpful 
in making the necessary arrangements. Many 
expressions of sympathy and love were given by our 
dear friends both to me and to my dear wife, but 
perhaps none of them made a more lasting impres- 
sion on my mind than that of a dear old colored 
woman who went by the name of Aunt Jenny. No 
one knew how old she was. She could not read or 
write, and had been a slave, but all who knew 
her had confidence in her Christianity. Her 
old master, when he came to die, turned from the 
minister and said : *' I want Aunt Jenny to come and 
pray for me." She lived in a little cabin by the 
roadside, and had a little garden back of it which 
she tended, and what she raised on that patch and 
the provisions given to her by her friends kept her. 
The white young people were very fond of her and 
loved to hear her talk, especially of her religious 
experience. They would go in to take something 
for her and then listen while she told of her expe- 
rience. All who knew her believed that she " walked 
with God." I was to start on my journey one 
night. That afternoon my wife and I went to call 
upon some of oiu: friends, as I wished to bid them 
farewell before leaving. As we passed along by 
Aunt Jenny's cabin, my wife suggested that I go in 
and bid her farewell. Feeling tired, and perhaps 
a little depressed, I was inclined to omit it, but my 
wife stopped the horse, got out of the buggy, and 
v/ent in and told her that I was going away across 
the ocean to preach the Gospel, and asked her to 
come out and bid me good-bye. She came out in 
her cheerful way, and, coming up to me, said : " Well, 
honey, is you going away to preach the Gospel across 



VISIT TO GREAT BRITAIN 243 

the ocean?" And then: '*! don't know where that 
is, but I expect it's a long ways off. Well, honey, 
you tell the sinners if they don't repent they'll be 
lost. Tell the Christians to hold on and they'll get 
to heaven. " When I took hold of her hand to bid 
her farewell, she saw that my wife was affected by 
the prospect of our separation, and she put her arms 
around her, saying, " Don't cry, honey, the Lord will 
take care of you and the children. You will all be 
well while he is gone, and the Lord will bring him 
home safely and you will live together many years. " 
Then, putting her other arm around me, she said: 
"But, honey, I won't be here when you come back. 
The Lord will send for me before then." After I 
had been gone about three months I received a letter 
from my wife saying that Aunt Jenny had died. 
Some of our young friends had gone in one morn- 
ing to take her something to eat. She was very 
busy cleaning up the cabin, and was very glad 
to see them, and entertained them with her pleasant 
conversation. Finally one of them suggested that 
the time had come when they must go. She said: 
"No, honeys; I am not ready for you to go yet. 
Wait a little while." They sat quiet for a few 
minutes, wondering what she wanted, when she 
looked up and said: "I hear the chariot wheels 
coming. The Lord has sent after me." She went 
and lay down on the bed, and in five minutes she 
"was not, for God had taken her. " 



Chapter XXVII 

AMONG FRIENDS IN IRELAND 

Having completed my arrangements, I left home 
on Third month i, 1875, for Philadelphia, and 
stopped with James M. Whitall until Third month 
4, when I went on board the steamship Ohio, of 
the American Line, at 8 A. M., bound for Liverpool. 
We had a pleasant sail down the Delaware, and at 
3 P. M. our pilot left us and we continued our long 
journey across the ocean. It was new to me, and I 
was soon seasick and suffered much for seventy- two 
hours, after which I began to eat a little and was soon 
well and enjoyed the remainder of the voyage, which 
was rather rough and stormy. However, we reached 
Queenstown on the morning of the 13th. Standing 
on the deck of the tender as we approached the 
wharf, I saw an old Friend with his broad-brimmed 
hat. I tiurned to a fellow-passenger and remarked, 
"There is the man I am going home with." As I 
stepped on the dock, he reached out his hand and 
said, "Welcome, Allen Jay, to Ireland." This 
Friend was Benjamin Haughton, the father of the 
present Benjamin Haughton, with whom my wife 
and I made our home during our last visit to Ireland 
eight years ago. We had never met before. He 
turned to the officer and said, "I'll stand good that 
there is nothing that requires duty in this baggage. " 
The officer put his mark upon it, and in a few 
minutes we were on our way to Cork, some twelve 

(244) 



AMONG FRIENDS IN IRELAND 245 

or fourteen miles distant. Upon reaching his home, 
he took me to my room and said, "This is thy home 
while in Cork," adding, "Dinner will be ready in 
thirty minutes," and left me. As the door closed, 
dropping into a chair, a real homesickness came over 
me. Here I was in Ireland, and had never met any- 
one on this side except William Green, who lived in 
the north of Ireland and whom I had seen while in 
attendance at Western Yearly Meeting several years 
before. But there was no time to dwell on dis- 
couragement. Dinner would be ready soon. Making 
such preparations as I could, I went down to the 
dining-room, where I met several Cork Friends who 
had come in to bid me welcome. Among the num- 
ber was the late George Grubb, who afterwards 
attended the Richmond Conference in 1887, when 
I had the pleasure of welcoming him to our home. 
He had good conversational powers and, to a large 
degree, the gift almost universal among Irish Friends 
to make visitors feel at home. This is a quality 
that should be cultivated in every family. Those 
who have never traveled among strangers do not 
realize the help it is to get into a home and feel that 
you are welcome. It will be a beautiful recollection 
in my life as I look back to my first landing in 
Ireland an entire stranger. The cordial greeting 
that followed caused me to feel that I was welcome 
and did much to strengthen me for the work I had 
in view. 

The next morning Lydia Pike, wife of Ebenezer 
Pike, who had sent me a note of welcome which 
was handed me before I left the ship, sent her car- 
riage after me to take me out to lunch at their 
beautiful home. It was an introduction to a 



246 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

wealthy home which was pervaded with a Christian 
spirit. They had several lovely sons and daughters. 
The father and sons were not at home, but the two 
hours spent with the mother and her daughters 
among the flowers and on the garden walks were 
cheering. The two younger daughters each had a 
large St. Bernard dog that walked with them to the 
dining-room and were fed while we partook of our 
lunch. I found myself busy answering all the 
questions that were put to me about the United 
States and the Friends in our land. Lunch over, I 
returned to the city and took the afternoon train to 
Dublin, spending the night there, and next morning 
went to Ulster Quarterly Meeting, which was held 
at Lisbum. 

I was met at the station by a Friend and hurried 
at once to the meeting-house, where I gave my 
simple message, this being the first time I had under- 
taken to preach in Ireland. After several others 
had spoken came a recess of thirty minutes for lunch, 
after which the meeting sat down again and trans- 
acted the business. I was taken home by Joseph 
Richardson and family, where I found a lovely 
home and a nice resting-place during my stay in that 
part of Ireland. My wife and I visited the same 
home eight years ago, but it was different then. 
The parents had grown old, and the large family of 
children had nearly all gone to homes of their own. 

Having visited the principal meetings in the 
north of Ireland, I retiu"ned to the south and visited 
most of the important meetings in Munster Quar- 
terly Meeting, such as Cork, Waterford and others. 
I then went to Mountmellick to attend Leinster 
Quarterly Meeting and some of the meetings com- 



AMONG FRIENDS IN IRELAND 247 

posing it before the yearly meeting. When the 
yearly meeting came on in Dublin it was my privi- 
lege to be assigned to the home of our dear friend, 
Adam Woods, at Dundrum, in the suburbs of 
Dublin. It was a quiet resting-place, a real home, 
one that I greatly appreciated. It was a pleasure 
to keep up a correspondence with the members of 
the family long afterwards. The dear parents have 
long since passed beyond, but the memory of those 
days lives bright in my recollection. Perhaps the 
different members of the household never knew the 
strength and comfort they were to a weary laborer 
during the strenuous work of Dublin Yearly Meeting 
in 1875. The business was interesting and enjoyed. 
The contrast was great between their manner of 
doing business and that of some of our large Ameri- 
can yearly meetings, especially those in the West, 
but it was refreshing to listen to their frank, cheerful 
and outspoken discussions. While they spoke their 
minds freely, yet through it all ran the spirit of 
brotherly love and Christian kindness. The busi- 
ness was transacted in harmony. While sitting in 
the meeting one day I was impressed with the 
belief that it would be right for me to appoint a 
meeting for the young people. I rose at a suitable 
time and informed the meeting of my concern. It 
was soon evident that it was something unusual 
and that there was a little fear that there might be 
some young Americanism in it. But after a time 
of silence, dear Samuel Bewley rose and said that 
while it was something out of the usual line, yet he 
did not feel like discouraging it, and he proposed 
that a judicious committee be appointed to take it 
into consideration and report to a future sitting. 



248 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

It was united with, and a committee appointed 
which reported to the next meeting in favor of the 
proposition. When the question of time was 
brought up, several wished it postponed so that they 
could send home for their children. The evening of 
the next day was selected. It was evident that 
there was much interest in the subject, and on the 
part of some of the older Friends a little uneasiness. 
As for myself, there was earnest prayer that I might 
simply do the will of my Heavenly Father. When 
the hour came, the meeting-room was packed with 
a company of noble young people. But few old 
people were present. When I arrived, Samuel 
Bewley was at the door waiting for me. Taking me 
by the arm, he led me up to the front of the meeting 
and sat down by me. A solemn feeling settled 
down over the company, and a living silence held 
all under its precious influence. After a time I rose 
and spoke some thirty minutes, then, after a pause, 
knelt in vocal prayer. While I was speaking, many 
were in tears, which was even more manifest during 
prayer. After closing, all was still except the sounds 
of weeping. Soon a young person spoke, and then 
another, until it was said that some thirty or forty 
who had never spoken before had given vocal ex- 
pression either in testimony or prayer. The feeling 
became so deep and general that I became fearful 
lest it might result in so much excitement that it 
might prove hurtful to the cause among the con- 
servative members, so I made a motion to close the 
service, when Samuel Bewley rose and in a tender 
voice said, "This is marvelous in my eyes," and 
added that he hoped all would be faithful. His 
words opened the way for others to come out and 



AMONG FRIENDS IN IRELAND 249 

place themselves on the Lord's side. This meeting 
closed about ten. The effect was to be seen and felt 
the next day in the meeting. Many came to me with 
words of appreciation for the blessing that had 
resulted to them or their families. Two days later 
several of the young people came and wanted me 
to appoint another meeting. I felt it would be best 
to encourage them to send up a request to the meet- 
ing themselves, which they did. When some one 
in the meeting asked if I had felt any concern, my 
reply was, " If the meeting is held, I hope to be 
there." It was held the following night, and there 
was a greater number present than before, many of 
them being from among the dear old people. It 
proved to be a wonderful meeting, for the Lord was 
manifest. Before I had said a word, a number of 
the young people spoke. It was easy to deliver the 
message, and when I was through the testimonies 
and prayers continued until I had to close the meet- 
ing in order to catch the last train for Dundrum. 
My heart was brought near to the dear young Friends 
of Dublin Yearly Meeting, and I left them with the 
prayer that the good work might go on and that 
many of them might be used of the Lord in building 
up His kingdom. Eight years ago, when visiting 
all the meetings of Ireland, I met some who are now 
active in church work who look back to those meet- 
ings as a starting point in their Christian life. My 
interest in the young people preceded me to England 
and resulted in my receiving invitations to hold 
young people's meetings in the limits of London 
Yearly Meeting, and in my being invited to tea- 
meetings and young people's associations wherever 
I went. It was during the yearly meeting following 



2 so AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

this, in London, that I took an active part in founding 
and organizing the Young Friends Christian Fellow- 
ship Union, which has continued until the present 
time, and when in London eight years ago I 
was invited to address the annual meeting held 
during the yearly meeting. This organization was 
brought to this country and adopted in several 
yearly meetings, but has now mostly given place to 
the Christian Endeavor organization in most of our 
American yearly meetings. 



Chapter XXVII 

AT LONDON YEARLY MEETING 

At the close of the yearly meeting I remained in 
Ireland until the Second-day following, being at 
Monktown on First-day morning, and at a meeting 
near Dundrum in the evening. I had now attended 
all the larger meetings in the yearly meeting, and 
the Brookfield School for boys and girls, and the 
Lisburn School, also for boys and girls, in the north 
of Ireland. I had also been at Mountmellick 
Boarding-school for Girls, and Newtown Boarding- 
school for Boys, at Waterford, and I will add that 
I specially enjoyed visiting those schools. So on 
Second-day morning I took the train to the boat, 
crossed over to Hollyhead, and went by the first 
train to London, where I arrived in the evening and 
was met at the station by my dear friend, Joseph 
Bevan Braithwaite, who took me to his home at 
312 Camden Road, N., where I found a warm wel- 
come, and not only then but several times since, 
until I have felt almost like calling it my London 
home. Many of our American Friends who have 
visited London at various times during the last 
thirty or forty years can bear testimony to the 
same experience. The father and mother, with their 
nine children, all of whom were at home, soon made 
me feel that I was one of the circle. I enjoyed the 
social and religious atmosphere of the home life very 
much. Joseph Bevan Braithwaite was a remarkable 

(251) 



252 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

man, a great student, having an extensive library, 
and his mind stored with a fund of useful knowledge 
upon all subjects, so that his conversation was 
always elevating and instructive. Sitting down on 
a First-day afternoon while there to read the Bible 
for an hour, which was customary when there was 
nothing to hinder, I heard it read in six or seven 
different languages, no one reading in English but 
myself. He had visited America in 1865, just after 
the close of the war, having for his companion Joseph 
Crosfield. They were in North Carolina, and gave 
some aid and advice to Friends, F. T. King con- 
sulting especially with Joseph Crosfield about how 
he found things down there. J. B. Braithwaite 
visited the United States and Canada several times, 
so that he became well posted about the condition 
and welfare of our Church in this country, and did 
much valuable labor in several of the yearly meetings 
on this continent. I shall have occasion to allude 
more fully to his work in connection with the 
Richmond Conference of 1887, as a delegate from 
London Yearly Meeting, which I will speak of when 
I come to tell of the organization of the Five Years 
Conference which resulted in the establishment of 
the Five Years Meeting. 

The next morning after my arrival was the 
Meeting of Ministry and Oversight, held at Devon- 
shire House. It was a large and solid body. It was 
a good time for me to sit and learn. My earnest 
prayer was that I might be kept in my proper place 
throughout the various sessions of the yearly meet- 
ing. I had often looked forward to being in this 
yearly meeting, and now I was there in the midst 
of those whom I had heard about but never seen. 



AT LONDON YEARLY MEETING 253 

This was historic ground, and there were men around 
me who had helped to make history in our Church ; 
such men as Isaac Brown, Isaac Sharp, Joseph Storrs 
Fry, Edward Backhouse, Charles Tyler, Charles 
Brady, Thomas Harvey, Caleb Kemp, Henry Wilson, 
John Bright, Arthur Pease, Stafford Allen, Arthur 
Albright and George Gillett, and among the women, 
Hannah Stafford Allen, Christine Alsop, Sarah S. 
B. Clark, Martha Braithwaite, and many others 
whose names are familiar to those who attended 
London Yearly Meeting. It was said at that time 
that there were some eighteen members of the Society 
of Friends who were members of Parliament. I do 
not know whether this was strictly true or not. 

The first thing that impressed me upon sitting 
down in the yearly meeting was the deep solemnity 
that settled over the congregation. One felt that 
each was engaged in prayer, trying to get in touch 
with God for himself. The silence was real. God 
was with His people, and they were learning from 
Him first-hand. How different from some other 
yearly meetings where it appears to some that 
nothing is going on unless some vocal expression is 
heard! I do not wonder that Charles Spurgeon, 
who had attended all the sessions of a previous yearly 
meeting, said at the close, as nearly as I can remem- 
ber, something like this: ** London Yearly Meeting 
is the greatest deliberative body I have ever sat in, 
and no other religious body could conduct its delib- 
erations in the harmony and unity it does and arrive 
at satisfactory conclusions without a moderator or 
presiding officer. To me it appeared to be a prac- 
tical recognition of the headship of Christ. " Under 
this feeling it was no light thing to break the silence 



2 54 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

in their meeting for worship, and when anyone did 
it was felt that he had something to say, something 
that was in harmony with the spirit of the meeting, 
and if others followed, they continued in the same 
line, and the result was to carry the congregation in 
the direction of a real spiritual blessing. There was 
a freedom from overwrought human excitement, 
no endeavor to build on the emotions such as is often 
seen in those who are anxious to make a demon- 
stration in the audience, the object being to carry 
the mind and heart in unison, so when the decision 
in the soul was reached it might be real and lasting. 
In the business portions of the yearly meeting my 
mind was impressed with the freedom given in 
discussion. While in our American yearly meetings 
one or two will give their opinions rather freely, and 
the great body of the meeting will be satisfied with 
simply saying, "I unite with that," or "I do not 
unite with it," here each one took time to explain 
his views, and sometimes at considerable length. 
Another feature of the discussion which rather 
shocked me at first was the perfect freedom with 
which they gave their views without regard to the 
views of others. Sometimes it wotild appear as 
though there was some warmth of feeling towards 
those who differed from them, but when an individ- 
ual had said what he had to say, he was done, and 
as a rule did not speak again without the consent of 
the clerk. Another thing I noticed was that the 
speakers were expected to speak on the subject or 
be reminded as to what the matter was before the 
meeting, and when the clerks at the table had con- 
sulted and the clerk had prepared and read his 
minute, it was very rare that anything was said. 



AT LONDON YEARLY MEETING 255 

One of the beautiful things about the whole matter 
was that when the session closed and they went out 
and met socially, there was rarely any talking it 
over again. They acted as though the subject was 
entirely closed. No one appeared to think that if 
he did not get his way everything was going wrong. 

But perhaps the thing that impressed me more at 
that time than anything else was the position that 
the women's meeting occupied in the yearly meeting. 
The men's meeting was London Yearly Meeting. 
The women's meeting held a subordinate place. 
Their business was confined to matters pertaining to 
women's affairs in a great measure. Belonging to 
a yearly meeting where women were on an equality 
with men, and where any disciplinary matter was 
not legal unless it had the approval of the women's 
meeting, it was rather hard for me to be reconciled 
to the position that the women occupied. On at- 
tending the yearly meeting a few years ago I found 
a great change in this respect. Nearly all their 
sessions were held jointly with the women, and they 
were taking part in all the affairs of the Church 
similarly to our American women. 

It was during this yearly meeting, as I have 
mentioned in the preceding chapter that in one 
of the rooms of Devonshire House I met with the 
young people, and the Young Friends Christian 
Fellowship Union was formed. The reports of the 
same continue to come to me, which I much enjoy. 
It was the beginning also of my becoming interested 
in the adult school work through meeting with their 
workers and hearing them talk over their methods 
of proceeding in various portions of the yearly 
meeting. It was a very instructive lesson to visit 



2 56 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

the work at Bedford Institute and the adult school 
work at Bunhill Field, where George Fox and many 
of our early Friends were buried. Joseph Bevan 
Braithwaite, Jr., was especially interested in the 
Bunhill Field work. It was helpful to visit several 
of these mission stations and mingle socially with 
them at their tea-meetings and other public gather- 
ings. The adult school work is a great work, and 
has grown wonderfully. It was started some fifty 
years ago by Joseph Sturge, and has proven a bless- 
ing to those who have come under its influence, and 
also to those who have given of their time and means 
in carrying it forward. Through its workers, also, 
it has had a reflex influence for good on the Church 
at large. 



Chapter XXIX 
ACQUAINTANCE WITH JOHN BRIGHT 

One of the richest blessings that came to me 
from attending London Yearly Meeting at that 
time was my meeting and acquaintance with John 
Bright, and the following sketch of this acquaintance 
with him I take from two letters written to my wife, 
one while in the home at "One Ash" and the other 
three days later while in Manchester. Otir con- 
versation was in the nature of a friendly talk be- 
tween two intimate friends rather than two strangers. 
I may have said something of my life and experience 
that I have seldom said to others. We used the old 
Friends' style of language, which John Bright said 
he was not in the habit of using with strangers. 

Before leaving home I had said to my wife that 
I hoped John Bright would attend London Yearly 
Meeting, as I wished to see him. His name was 
dear to those who had believed in the preservation 
of our Union, because he had stood by the Govern- 
ment during the Rebellion. He had lifted his voice 
in our favor in the dark days of the war at a time 
when Lincoln feared that the British Government 
would throw its influence in favor of recognizing 
slavery and dividing our nation. 

On the morning of the first session of the business 
meeting, upon taking my seat by the side of Isaac 
Sharp, I saw John Bright in the meeting. It was 
unnecessary for anyone to point him out. His 

17 (2S7) 



258 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

features were familiar, for I had seen them often in 
our public newspapers. The next thought was that 
I hoped to hear him speak on business and that in 
some way I might be permitted to shake hands with 
him, but I secretly resolved that I would not act 
foolishly nor put myself forward improperly in 
order to do so. Yet I soon had an opportunity to 
do both and much more than I had dared to hope. 
The next day a matter came before the meeting in 
which he differed from some of the speakers, espe- 
cially Arthur Albright, who was at one time, I be- 
lieve, also a member of Parliament. He replied in 
a clear and forceful way. There was no misunder- 
standing what he meant. Early in the yearly 
meeting a devotional meeting was held in both 
rooms. It was my desire to go into the smaller 
room, which was the women's, for I felt it would be 
a smaller congregation. While speaking I saw John 
Bright looking at me. After the meeting, as I 
walked down the aisle, he stepped out in front of me 
and offering me his hand said, " Welcome, Allen Jay, 
to England. I am glad I heard thee to-day." 
Taking me by the arm he said, ''Come and go with 
me to lunch, " As we were eating he asked a num- 
ber of questions and kept up the conversation. 
When the time came to go into the afternoon session 
he said on parting, "When thee comes to Rochdale, 
'One Ash' will be thy home." The prospect was 
pleasant to me, yet I could not but feel that amid 
his many public and private duties he would not 
think of it again. In this I was agreeably mistaken. 
During the summer, while attending the general 
meeting at Ackworth, his daughter reminded me 
that their home was to be mine when I visited their 



JOHN BRIGHT 259 

meeting. When the word was sent, some time in 
Eighth month, that I would be there on a Fifth-day, 
John Bright answered, "I will meet Allen Jay." 
On reaching the station the door was opened and I 
stepped out with a small bag in each hand. John 
Bright was there and took one. As we walked 
along through the station I heard one man say to 
another, "I wonder who John Bright has now." 
The other replied, ''An American. Look at his 
boots." When meeting time came we walked 
together to the meeting-house while the rest of the 
family rode in the carriage. When we arrived he 
took me to my seat and then went to his own. At 
the close of meeting his wife came to me and said, 
" As thee is tired, remain with us until Seventh-day 
evening and then go on to Manchester that evening 
so as to be there ready for First-day morning. ' ' The 
plan was very agreeable to me, as I had only taken 
one day's rest since landing in Ireland the first of 
Third month. 

After dinner was over John Bright took me into 
the library and after we had sat down he pointed to 
a picture of Richard Cobden hanging on the wall 
and said, "There is a picture of one of the best men 
I ever knew." He then commenced and gave a 
short history of the Com Laws, telling how Richard 
Cobden, just after his first wife had died and while 
he was sad and lonely, came to him and said, 
"There are many homes in England that are sad 
to-day because of the Corn Laws, and I have come 
to ask you to join with me and let us consecrate 
ourselves to the work of removing these laws, thereby 
bringing gladness to many a poor home in England.' ' 
I have often wondered why John Bright should 



26o AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

have done as he did that afternoon with an obscure 
American who had no claim upon his time. For 
about two hours he continued to give a hasty 
review of his life from childhood, told of his ex- 
periences in early life, of his entering into the life of 
a statesman, his Com Laws experiences, his position 
and experiences in regard to the Crimean war, also 
of the battles he fought in our behalf in connection 
with the Rebellion in the United States. He told 
me how President Lincoln sent Henry Ward Beecher 
over there to help turn the tide of public opinion 
away from the South and towards the North. He 
described a wonderful meeting that was held in a 
great hall in London, in which Henry Ward Beecher 
proved himself the master of the situation when, 
after an hour's interruption from those who opposed 
him, he rose above it all and carried the audience 
with him. John Bright added, *' I regard him as 
the greatest platform orator I have ever heard." 
As we sat there his mail was brought in. He laid it 
aside with the exception of one letter, saying," I will 
read this one, from my dear friend John G. Whittier." 
He began and read it aloud. It was a strong letter 
of friendship and love in reply to one that he had 
written him. It was a treat to hear how these two 
men appreciated each other. But the point that 
claimed my attention was the closing sentence, in 
which Whittier said something like this: "John 
Bright, why don't thee come to America? If thee 
will, we will give thee the greatest ovation that any 
Englishman ever had." When he read that he 
turned to me and said, "That is just the reason I 
don't go. I would rather go to America than any 
other place I know of, and a few years ago I told 



JOHN BRIGHT 261 

some of my friends that I had decided to make a 
visit to the United States. The newspapers re- 
ported this and in a few days I got cablegrams from 
the leading hotels in New York, Philadelphia, 
Boston, Chicago and Washington, each telling me 
that I could have all the room I wanted when I 
reached their city. Then a cablegram came from 
the Pullman Car Company telling me there would 
be a train waiting for me with parlor and dining cars, 
to take me wherever I wanted to go, free of charge. 
Then came a message from the President of the 
United States, saying I must be the nation's guest 
and make my home at the Capitol. I saw at once 
that they were going to make a hero of me and that 
they would kill me, so I had to give it up. " I en- 
deavored to show him why our Government and 
the Northern people generally appreciated him so 
highly. His simple reply was, " I only did my duty, 
and our people now begin to see that I was right. " 
Among the experiences of which he told, connected 
with his public life, were one or two in connection 
with the Queen. When appointed to a position in 
the Queen's Cabinet he had this experience: It was 
customary for those appointed to go in before the 
Queen and kneel down to receive their commission, 
afterwards kissing her hand. The day before he was 
to go in for this purpose he received a note in her 
own handwriting saying, *'The members of your 
Church do not believe in bowing the knee to any one 
but God. Therefore you may come in to-morrow 
and receive yours in a way consistent with your 
profession." In this way the afternoon was spent, 
he giving reminiscences of his political life and I 
sitting listening, completely enrapt as he told of 



262 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

various incidents in his experiences and incidentally 
brought out the religious side of his character. He 
said that he believed that he was called to his work 
as a statesman as distinctly as I had been called to 
the work of the ministry, and added that he believed 
it would be good for the United States if more 
Christian men would give themselves to a political 
life in our country, for he thought that the Lord had 
led him in the course that he had pursued. It was 
a rare occasion for me. He told of some incidents 
in the life of Gladstone and of their work together. 
He also alluded to others of the leading men of 
England and gave his opinion of them, but what he 
had to say of our own statesmen was far more inter- 
esting to me. He spoke of President Lincoln, Secre- 
tary Seward, Charles Sumner and others of our 
statesmen with a freedom and frankness that 
caused me to appreciate my own countrymen. He 
was especially full of praise for our martyred Presi- 
dent and for the great work which he did. He was 
a warm friend of our Government. He spoke of its 
faults and weaknesses, yet he believed that it would 
become a great nation, one of the great powers of 
the world, though he felt that we would not reach the 
climax of our greatness for many years to come. 
He felt that Friends in our country should study 
our government more and take a greater interest in 
the political work of the nation. In one of the last 
letters I had from him, while I was superintendent 
of Earlham College, he expressed a desire that our 
young men would prepare themselves for important 
positions in the government service and cultivate 
a love of country, thereby purifying the political 
life of the nation. 



JOHN BRIGHT 263 

The next day we went out to take a ride over the 
old road leading out among the hills. We came to 
where the road wound around a hill in order to 
reach the top. He asked the driver to stop, and 
getting out of the carriage he suggested that we 
walk directly up the hill and see which of us would 
first reach the top. We started. My plan was to 
walk by his side until near the end and then forge 
ahead. When I began to go ahead of him he 
laughingly sat down and said, " I give it up. " With 
a laugh I said, "John Bright, it is not the first time 
that John Bull has had to give up to young America." 
It is a picture in my mind yet how he looked as 
he shook his finger at me and with a forced expres- 
sion of seriousness replied, "Naughty! it was bad 
enough to whip us without laughing about it." 

On reaching the top of the hill he pointed out 
a spot where George Fox had preached and added, 
"George Fox was the greatest reformer that this 
world has known since the days of the apostles. He 
saw more clearly than any other reformer what the 
spirit of the gospel would do and the changes it 
would produce in the world when it shaped the 
lives of men. He spoke of oaths, war, slavery, 
religious liberty and of the position it would give 
women in the church and in the ministry, and of 
other great reforms such as temperance and freedom 
of the gospel. In its beginning the Quaker Church 
was the greatest missionary society that has ever 
been since the days of the early church. He saw all 
these things and to-day the world is beginning to 
catch glimpses of what he saw clearly." 

It was a spiritual uplift to listen to John Bright 
reading the Bible at the morning devotions. There 



2 64 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

was a tenderness that came into his voice as he read 
some of the psalms that was genuine. At the close of 
one of these services, during which I had engaged in 
vocal supplication, he spoke and said, "Some say 
that there is no God, but we know there is and it 
is sweet to know that He is with us and strengthens 
us for His service. He does not leave us alone." 
Speaking at one time of his public service he said, 
" If I have achieved any success as a public speaker, 
I owe it more to the Bible and to Milton's Paradise 
Lost than to any other books. " He remarked that 
all true poetry is more or less inspired. Milton's 
Paradise Lost was his favorite outside the Bible. I 
have heard others say that he could repeat a large 
portion of it from memory. 

In parting with me at the close of the quarterly 
meeting at Liverpool, just before I sailed for home, 
he said, " Some of us have loved thee because thee 
has been thyself and not tried to imitate others, 
but has gone ahead and delivered the message as 
thee has seen it. " These were the last words I ever 
heard him speak. When I was in London in 1885 
he was sick but sent word for me to come and see 
him. I had made other engagements and did not go. 
Often since I have regretted that I had not let those 
other things go and had gone to see him. While he 
lived we occasionally corresponded. He was a 
wonderful man and I have always felt that it was 
a great privilege to have known him. He was 
modest, retiring in his disposition, shrinking from 
publicity. Once while I was walking with him he 
overheard some one say, "There goes the Honorable 
John Bright. " He turned to me and said, "That is 
what I have to suffer on account of my position. If 



JOHN BRIGHT 265 

I could only go along as a private citizen, how much 
more pleasant it would be!" 

While in England eight years ago with my wife, 
we sent an appointment to attend Rochdale meet- 
ing on a certain evening. John B right's son, who 
lived in the old home, was absent with his family, if 
I remember rightly, in France. When he learned 
of our appointment, however, with a feeling that 
I greatly appreciated, he wrote me saying that he 
was sorry they were away and that the servants 
had the house very much torn up cleaning and 
repairing, but remembering his father's feeling of 
friendship for me, he wanted us to go to the home, 
get our supper and rest a little before meeting. 
He said he would order his carriage to meet us at 
the station on our arrival and drive directly to 
" One Ash. " He hoped we would feel at home and 
enjoy ourselves. When we reached the house and 
had prepared ourselves for the meal, I went into 
the library and sat down in the chair that I thought 
he sat in twenty-five years before, and gave myself 
up to meditation until called to supper. It was 
the same library and some of the same pictures on 
the walls. The afternoon's conversation twenty- 
five years before came up vividly in my memory and 
I lived over again those hours which were among the 
richest in my life. When supper was ready I took 
my wife and led her out to the seat where his wife 
had sat. I took the chair that John Bright sat in 
and our yoimg English Friend who was with us sat 
at the side between us. For me it was living over 
the past. We went to the meeting a little early and 
visited his grave, then went into the meeting-house 
and sat down until the Friends had come in. When 



266 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

meeting had gathered I took my place and after 
a while stood up and delivered the message I felt 
called upon to deliver on that occasion. At the 
close we went to ^lanchester, where we were to be 
the next day. I wrote the son and expressed our 
appreciation of his thoughtfulness in opening the 
way for us to visit "One Ash." 



Chapter XXX 

SOME PROMINENT ENGLISH FRIENDS 

Oiir friends, Deborah Thomas, of Baltimore, and 
Mary R. Haines her companion from Philadelphia, 
were also in attendance at London Yearly Meeting 
in 1875. They boarded where I did, at Joseph 
Bevan Braithwaite's. They were at the yearly meet- 
ing the year before, and during the yearly meeting 
one day Deborah Thomas requested the privilege 
of visiting the men's meeting. In the course of her 
communication she spoke very directly to some one 
whom she believed was in that meeting and who had 
felt a call to extensive religious service. She believed 
the time had come when he should surrender himself 
to the service and make preparation to enter upon 
it, as there was not much time to spare if he finished 
the work. Our dear friend, Stanley Pumphrey, was 
present on that occasion, and believed the message 
was meant for him, as he had long felt a call to visit 
the meetings of Friends in America. During the 
year he arranged his affairs and secured the endorse- 
ment of his monthly and quarterly meetings, and 
came to the yearly meeting prepared to lay the 
matter before the meeting of ministers and elders for 
their endorsement. On Fifth month 18, 1875, he 
was liberated by the yearly meeting to pay a religious 
visit to all the meetings of Friends in America. He 
expected that it would require four or five years to 
accomplish all that he had on his heart. There was 

(267) 



268 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

much unanimity in the meeting with his prospect, 
and he was encouraged to be faithful. He was about 
to engage in a work that was greatly blessed to the 
various American yearly meetings and that brought 
him into close touch and sympathy with Friends and 
their needs in this land. Perhaps when he closed 
his labors in our coiintry no English Friend of that 
day was as fully posted on our conditions as he was. 
I will not speak more of Stanley Pumphrey now, as 
I shall have occasion to dwell more fully upon his 
labors in America later. 

The same day the meeting liberated Isaac Sharp, 
Robert Doeg and myself to attend the yearly meeting 
in Norway, beginning on the 14th of Sixth month. 
We were also liberated to perform any other service 
we thought best in Norway, Denmark or Germany. 

Caroline E. Talbot, of Ohio Yearly Meeting, and 
her husband were also at the same yearly meeting. 
She found an open door for service among Friends. 
We traveled and labored together considerably 
dining the summer in different parts of England. 

Isaac Brown was a dear Friend whom I had met 
in Ireland during Dublin Yearly Meeting, who mani- 
fested a great deal of kindness, and opened the way 
for my service in the yearly meeting. Afterwards 
at his own home in Kendal he and his wife opened 
their house, which was called "Brantholme," and I 
stopped with them several days. It was of great 
benefit to me in my futtu-e work to become ac- 
quainted with this dear Friend. We kept up a 
correspondence im.til near the close of his life, and his 
many letters were very instructive, especially in my 
religious work. He was a man of deep spiritual ex- 
perience. He had been a teacher for fifty years, and 




ISAAC BROWN. 



ENGLISH FRIENDS 269 

told me that he had never been late to classes during 
that time. He was for many years head of the 
Flounders Institute, which was established near 
Ack worth, and where many went to complete their 
higher education and to prepare themselves for 
teachers and for other useful occupations. He had 
a large library, and had given much attention to 
biblical study and research, and had spent much 
time in writing commentaries on the Bible — withal 
a very modest and unassuming man. He deeply 
impressed me with his humility. Especially was 
this manifest in his public ministry, there being 
nothing dogmatic or dictatorial in his communica- 
tions. 

I was sitting one day in his library reading 
when he came in and sat down. At once I felt it 
would be a good time for me to find out the meaning 
of a certain portion of Scripture that I had heard 
explained in different ways, so, turning to the passage, 
I said: "Isaac Brown, what is the meaning of this 
passage of Scripture?" With a smile he said: "If 
thou hadst asked me that question forty years ago, I 
would have given thee an answer in a minute, 
but after forty years ' investigation I do not know what 
it means. " How different from many I have met, 
who cannot read it in more than one language, yet I 
have heard them explain it without any hesitation, 
asserting revelation, while others assuming the same 
high authority would give a different meaning to it, 
each declaring that he was right! It is altogether 
probable that Isaac Brown knew as much about the 
meaning of the Spirit as any of them. My observa- 
tion is that it is not very safe to follow those who 
can explain everything and tell you just what you 



2 70 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

must believe and what you must not believe. It 
may be safer sometimes to listen to the man who is 
able to say : " I do not know. " 

While with Isaac Brown, I spent a day in visiting 
one of the lakes in the Cumberland region, about ten 
miles away, and some of the old abbeys, attended 
their meeting of ministry and oversight and their 
monthly meeting. On Sixth-day I went to Swarth- 
more Hall and visited the meeting and the hall where 
George Fox lived after he married Judge Fell's 
widow, and spent First-day at Kendal, attending 
their morning and evening meetings. 

Others who were very kind to me were Isaac 
Sharp, the great missionary traveler, and Isaac 
Robinson, who had been in our home in North Caro- 
lina, both of whom did all they could to make my 
visit to London Yearly Meeting a time of blessing. I 
shall ever look back with great satisfaction upon the 
days that I spent at London Yearly Meeting in 1875. 
It was a "school of the prophets" to me, and while 
there were many things new and different to what 
we have in our country, yet I feel that in many 
respects we might learn useful lessons from them. 
Being the only man minister present with a minute 
outside of their yearly meeting, I found ample time 
for all the service I felt called upon to perform. I 
became especially interested in the young people of 
that yearly meeting, and felt that there was an 
awakening among them which would result in their 
taking greater interest in the Church. Especially 
was this being shown in the adult school work, mis- 
sion work, and the First-day school work, so that I 
left that yearly meeting with a feeling of encourage- 
ment in regard to the future. English Friends give 



ENGLISH FRIENDS 271 

closer attention to the great moral questions con- 
nected with their government than we do, such as 
the temperance question, the educational question, 
looking after the poor and making the laws. It was 
remarkable to me to find so many members of the 
Society of Friends in Parliament. While their 
numbers would not have entitled them to more than 
two or three, they had at that time eighteen mem- 
bers of Parliament, several of them ministers. 

The yearly meeting having closed, I visited a few 
meetings on my way up to Hull, from which place 
we sailed for Norway. 



Chapter XXXI 

WITH FRIENDS IN NORWAY 

After the close of London Yearly Meeting I 
attended several meetings around London on my way 
up to Hull, from which place Isaac Sharp, Robert 
Doeg and I were engaged to sail across to Stavanger, 
Norway, on the 12th of Sixth month, 1875. Isaac 
Sharp had visited Norway several times, and Robert 
Doeg, who was to be my interpreter, had lived seven 
years in Norway, and was familiar with the language 
and the people. He himself was a minister of the 
Gospel, so that I regarded it as providential that these 
men had minutes for religious service in that country. 
We went on board late at night, and went to bed. 
The vessel passed out of the harbor about midnight, 
and the next day the weather was fine. In crossing 
the North Sea it is not unusual for passengers to 
suffer from seasickness, but I did not find much 
inconvenience. The second day, Seventh-day, the 
14th, we reached Stavanger. Six Friends in a little 
boat came along the ship's side, and as soon as the 
custom house officers were through with our baggage 
we were rowed ashore. We were met at the wharf 
by a large number of Friends, who carried our bag- 
gage through the town to the meeting-house. This 
was a three-story building, the cellar floor being occu- 
pied by Endre Dahl for a store-room. He was one 
of the leading men of the place, had considerable 
influence with the government and helped Friends 

(272) 




YEARLY MEETING HOUSE. STAVANGER, NORWAY. 




GROUP OF FRIENDS AT STAVANGER, NORWAY. 



FRIENDS IN NORWAY 273 

when they were persecuted for their religious princi- 
ples. The second floor was occupied by a family 
who had the care of the house and kept two spare 
rooms for ministers who were traveling. One of 
these fell to my lot, with a narrow bed, there being 
two beds in the other room for my friends. We 
were soon called to tea, having fresh fish, crabs, but- 
ter and bread — everything nice and clean. After tea 
we walked up to Endre Dahl's house and around his 
grotmds and gardens ; they were very nice. His wife 
was very feeble. We remained until 9.30 o'olock, 
which was about sundown. This is certainly a sea- 
girt and rock-bound town. It numbers about 
17,000. The fjords run all around among the hills, 
and there are a large number of rocky islands in 
view. It was beautiful to see the sun go down be- 
hind the mountains. 

Sixth month 13 was First-day, and at about ten 
o'clock we went upstairs to the meeting-room, which 
was on the third floor, and found a large room 
crowded to overflowing. We sat down in silence, 
which was soon broken by an aged woman, who 
spoke in the Norse language, which I did not tmder- 
stand. Many were in tears when she was through. 
Isaac Sharp followed, and Endre Dahl translated 
for him. I engaged in prayer, and Robert Doeg 
translated for me. I then spoke from the text, 
"What shall I do to be saved?" Robert Doeg fol- 
lowed, speaking in Norse. I was so thankful that he 
was with me, for we had been together in England, 
and I felt that he was a good man and knew how to 
help me. He was a pleasant minister, and we be- 
came much attached to each other. He knew how 
to enter into sympathy with my message, and de- 
ls 



2 74 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

livered it with an unction that added to its spiritual 
power rather than detracted from it; for he had 
spiritual discernment. It is a good thing for the 
interpreter to be a clean vessel, for he in one sense 
makes the message his own. Such an interpreter is 
better than one who simply translates the message 
from one language and clothes it in another. May 
we who are ministers endeavor to be clothed with the 
Spirit and with a sense of the importance of "Be ye 
clean that bear the vessel of the Lord. " At the close 
of the meeting they gathered around us, and, with 
tears running down their faces, putting their arms 
around our necks, manifested their joy. It was a 
time to be long remembered. There was a meeting 
again at 4 P. M., and a tea-meeting that evening at 
Endre Dahl's, both of which I hope were a time of 
spiritual blessing to many. Returning to our rooms 
about II o'clock, with a thankful heart I drew the 
curtains over the window to shut out the light, and 
lay down to rest. 

Next morning the yearly meeting proper began, 
and after about one and a half hours of worship, 
in which much freedom was felt in preaching, the 
business was begun by Endre Dahl reading the open- 
ing minute. The representatives being called, our 
minutes were read and many warm expressions were 
given to welcoming us to their meetings and homes. 
It was an interesting day. The business sessions 
both in the forenoon and afternoon were harmonious, 
nearly all the members taking part in speaking to 
the subjects that came before the meeting. I sat 
beside Robert Doeg, who kindly kept me informed 
about the business that was before the meeting. 
Among other things, they had under consideration 



FRIENDS IN NORWAY 275 

some changes in their discipline. They discussed 
the proposed alterations with great freedom, and 
arrived at conclusions with but little difficulty. It 
was certainly an interesting yearly meeting, one that 
it was a great privilege to attend. The closing hour 
was one of the most solemn and impressive closing 
sessions that I have ever sat in. We separated from 
these dear people in much love and tenderness of 
spirit. 

During my stay in Norway I was much impressed 
with their earnestness in their meetings for worship. 
Even before a word was spoken we could see the 
tears falling freely and dropping on the floor. Well 
do I remember walking down the aisle after meeting, 
and on looking each way seeing the floor wet with 
tears between the seats. Although having read of 
such things when a boy, it was hard to realize. Here 
now my eyes saw it demonstrated not once, but sev- 
eral times. 

At the close of the yearly meeting we arranged 
to start out to visit the meetings of Friends in this 
land, and many of their families. Our traveling 
was done on the fjords by steamers and row-boats, 
and on land by public conveyances. These convey- 
ances sometimes consisted of two-wheeled carts, the 
passengers sitting in a box on the axle, and the 
driver sitting behind on a seat nailed on the shafts, 
which ran back beyond the axle far enough for him to 
sit there, his feet hanging down, holding the lines 
with one hand on each side of the box. Sometimes 
each passenger had his own conveyance and driver. 
In one of these rides I was taught a lesson about 
traveling that I have not forgotten. There were five 
passengers of us one morning setting out from our 



2 76 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

hotel. Being pointed to my box, doubling up my 
traveling rug I placed it in the bottom, and with my 
Irish ulster overcoat on I got in and sat down. Soon 
the five drivers appeared, one of whom was a young 
woman. She was assigned to the American. All 
started in a row, one behind another. It was up hill 
for two or three miles, and we went along engaged 
in watching the scenery, but when we reached the 
mountain top I was suddenly aroused from my 
musing by the driver's saying something and 
dropping the lines. Immediately the horse laid 
back his ears and started in a nm down the moun- 
tain. On one side of us the rocks towered still 
higher, and on the other a deep canyon lay, hundreds 
of feet below. My first impression was that the horse 
was running away, and that we would be thrown over 
the bank and dashed to pieces on the rocks far below. 
Grabbing the reins, I began to pull and to shout 
"whoa." My whoa was English, and it did not 
trouble the horse; but my pulling was Norse, and 
interfered with his running. My driver caught me 
by the shoulders and began to shake me and to talk 
in an excited manner. Thinking she was frightened 
and wanted me to exert myself more, I pulled harder 
and called * ' whoa ' ' louder. About that time she left 
off shaking me and gave me a slap on my right ear 
that was English. I could understand that language. 
There was no mistaking what she meant. 
Letting go of the reins, I took hold of the sides of the 
box and stopped saying "whoa." Looking on 
ahead and down in the road winding before us, I saw 
all the other horses running. So I came to the con- 
clusion that that must be the orthodox way to go 
down hill in Norway. While it was an orthodoxy 



FRIENDS IN NORWAY 277 

that was hard for me to accept, I made up my mind 
to do so, and quietly sat back in my seat and behaved 
myself the rest of the way down the mountain ; but 
I drew a long breath of relief when we reached the 
valley below. As soon as we started up hill again the 
driver got out and walked along by the side of the 
cart, looking at me with a smile as much as to say 
that she was in a good humor. I replied in the same 
language as best I cotdd. We understood each other. 
But when we came to the station where all stopped 
to change horses, she went forward and told my 
interpreter what she had done, and refused to go 
any further until he came and explained the danger 
there was in holding the lines tight while the horse 
was running; for they are trained to run down the 
hill with a loose line. My action was liable to cause 
the horse to fall, and the result probably would have 
been disastrous to us. We had a great laugh over 
it, and I told him to thank her for acting so promptly 
and efficiently. 

While engaged in this work in Norway I did not 
keep any diary. Consequently what I have written 
has been mostly from memory and from letters 
written to my dear wife. But our dear friend, Isaac 
Sharp, who was one of our company, was pleased to 
say something in his diary about my part of the work, 
and my dear friend, John F. Hanson, in his book 
entitled "Light and Shade from the Land of the 
Midnight Sun" has inserted the following from Isaac 
Sharp's diary, which he introduces with these words: 

" Allen Jay, a minister of Richmond, Indiana (who 
at that time resided in North Carolina) , made a most 
valuable visit to Norway in 1875. His service is 
yet spoken of 'as savor of life tmto life to many.* 



278 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

We cull the following account from the notes of Isaac 
Sharp, who accompanied him on the visit: 

"On Third-day, Sixth month 15, 1875, we left 
Stavanger by the steamer Haiikelid, and on arriv- 
ing at Sand about noon, a boat was in waiting to 
convey us to Sovde. For about two hours it rained 
heavily, then cleared up and rained again. The 
waterfalls were very beautiful, and the grand old 
moimtains, wrapped in green and fringed at their 
base with ferns and flowers, arrested the attention of 
Allen Jay, who gazed with admiration on our sur- 
roundings of beauty and grandeur, but wondered 
how it was possible to provide for the wants of a 
family from the produce of the tiny farms, many of 
which we passed in the course of the journey. 

" In rather less than four hoiu-s we reached the 
head of the fjord, and walked to the meeting-house, 
over which were two rooms, each having two beds, 
for the accommodation of the traveling Friends. A 
storm arose with great violence and the rain de- 
scended heavily as we gazed from the window on the 
white wreaths of cloudlike vapor spread over the 
fjord we had so recently left. The violence of this 
thundery tempest soon abated, and at 8 o'clock, 
sixty came together from their several homes. Soren 
Olsen, from America, now on a visit to his native 
land, was agreeably with us, and interpreted for 
Isaac Sharp. All four were heard in testimony and 
prayer. It was a good meeting, and the people were 
in no haste to leave at its close. 

"Our young friend, Thorstein Bryne, from Sta- 
vanger, also bears us company, and proves a kind 
and willing helper. In the early part of last year he 
was the companion of John Frederick Hanson in his 



FRIENDS IN NORWAY 279 

visit to Denmark. Considerably after 10 o'clock it 
was still light enough for Robert Doeg to read a 
portion of Scripture ; a uniting scene of brotherly love 
was present with us, as also the directing and protect- 
ing care of our Heavenly Father, to which expression 
was given by Allen Jay in prayer and thanksgiving. 

"About 10 o'clock the following morning we set 
out for a few calls from house to house. After our 
first visit we had an opportunity of seeing that the 
real wants of man are in small compass; the living 
or family room in which we entered was about four- 
teen feet square. In one corner was a bed, on which 
the father of the family was resting from the fatigue 
of his early morning toil. The mother and three or 
four healthy-looking children were also present ; all 
were dressed in very ample costume, each one wear- 
ing a pair of light wooden shoes. In one comer was a 
cooking, drying and warming stove, in another the 
spinning-wheel, and in the remaining corner a table, 
on which the sleeves of a garment, with knitting 
needles attached and a ball of worsted, were lying. 
There were also two benches, a chair or two, and a 
few shelves; sundry articles of domestic use were 
hanging from the walls, the whole presenting a pic- 
ture of rigid simplicity. They appeared thankful 
for the visit and what was communicated to them, as 
well as for the prayer offered up in their behalf. 

" After two more visits, pelting rain came on ; in 
the brightness between showers the rocky crags and 
surrounding mountains were very fine to look upon, 
and the snow still resting upon some of their sum- 
mits bore evidence of their altitude. The isolation 
of this place is in part relieved by the arrival of the 
steamer now and then, thus affording facility at an 



28o AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

easy rate for proceeding from place to place, or for 
the transport of goods to be sent away or received. 

"A second meeting was held at Sovde on Fourth- 
day evening satisfactorily. On the following morn- 
ing, the 17th, we rose early, and after breakfast 
enjoyed our reading. The spirit of prayer was 
present, and found vocal utterance. With calm and 
peaceful quiet we took leave of Sovde and its grand 
surroundings, which brought to remembrance the 
passage, *As the mountains are round about Jeru- 
salem, ' etc. We set off at 8 o'clock, and in walking 
to the boat Allen Jay remarked: 'We have had a 
nice visit, a very nice visit; I shall not soon forget 
this place. ' 

"Four hours were occupied in rowing to Sand, 
whence we proceeded in the Skjold, one of the local 
steamers, to Naerstrand. We were kindly met on 
the quay by Rier Oveland, to whose house we walked 
in the evening and had a religious sitting. The next 
morning at 1 1 o'clock a meeting was held in the house 
of a ship carpenter who, though not connected with 
the Friends, kindly gave the use of a good-sized 
room, which was well filled with a solid and attentive 
congregation. The same day, a few miles distant, 
another meeting was held at the house of Cecilia 
Tedneland, a well-esteemed Friend, a widow, who 
evidently has a real pleasure in arranging for visits 
such as these. On Seventh-day, the 1 9th, we set out 
by carriole, and afterwards took a boat for Slogvig, 
where reside Anders and Berta Slogvig, at whose 
house we had a family sitting, and were hospitably 
entertained by them. 

" Anders Slogvig is well acquainted with the dis- 
trict, and an open air conference was held with him. 




STAKLAND MEETING HOUSE. 




A^IONG THE VITEN ISLANDS. 



FRIENDS IN NORWAY 281 

Visitors and visited sat down together on a rocky- 
ledge, commanding a diversified view of great beauty. 
Bright-green glades in the near surroundings were in 
striking contrast with the rugged outline of the snow- 
flecked distant range. Just below us the patches of 
com and potatoes, with bright-green grass not yet 
ready for cutting — all smiling in the noon-tide sun- 
light — were in harmony with the thrush-like song 
borne upward from the grove of birch and fir and 
oak and other native planted forests which have 
adorned the little domain of Slogvig from one gen- 
eration to another. 

*' We left Slogvig between 3 and 4 in a boat, and 
subsequently proceeded by carrioles, which came for 
us to the water's edge and brought us nearly to 
Stakland, to which place we walked, arriving there 
after a journey of altogether three hours. Robert 
Doeg and Soren Olsen were kindly entertained at 
the house of Erik Stakland; Allen Jay and Isaac 
Sharp lodged at Elias Stakland 's, who was five times 
imprisoned in Bergen castle for refusing military 
service. The father of these brothers was a valuable 
Friend, and suffered severely from ecclesiastical dis- 
traint — his faithfulness in this respect, it is believed, 
was blessed both to himself and family. Two meet- 
ings were held on First-day, the 20th, at 11 and 4 
o'clock, in weather damp and unfavorable. The 
voices of the fotir stranger Friends were heard. 
Allen Jay quoted the text, 'Choose ye this day 
whom ye shall serve.' He appeared to be much 
impressed with a sense of the value and responsibility 
of parental influence, and said very feelingly: *I 
thank my God for a mother's prayer. ' Both meet- 
ings ended solidly. An evening sitting with the 



282 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

Friends here, after a social meal, peacefully con- 
cluded our service at this place. 

"The next morning, Second-day, the 21st, we 
proceeded to the seaport of Hougesund, calling at the 
house of Torbjom Aareg on the way, with whom and 
his family a religious sitting was held, which proved 
a time of refreshment. About 1 1 in the evening we 
went on board the Motala; all the berths were 
taken, so we lay down in the sofa seats without im- 
dressing. Allen Jay was much indisposed, and had 
severe pain in the head, but greatly improved in a 
few hours. Six or seven Friends were on the quay 
between 11 and 12 at night to take leave of Allen 
Jay. After midnight the steamer continued her 
course, and about 9 the next morning we landed at 
Flekke Fjord. The weather was now bright and 
beautiful, and soon after 11 o'clock we set off on 
our journey to Kinnesdal. 'Wonderful ! wonderful ! * 
exclaimed Allen Jay, as we rode along this valley of 
diversified beauty and grandeur. The graceful birch 
was waving in the wind on the rocky banks of the 
Kvina, along which we rode ; from whence, ascend- 
ing upward, an altitude of 1200 feet was gained. The 
air was bracing and the views were fine. 

"Our worthy friend, Tollag Roisland, met us on 
the way and forded the river on horseback. He and 
his daughter narrowly escaped drowning some time 
ago, owing to the rapidity of the current. We went 
over in a fiat-bottomed boat, and about 8.30 in the 
evening we reached our destination. In the upper 
story of the meeting-house two of our number found 
comfortable accommodation for the night after our 
social evening reading. These seasons have proved 
especially refreshing and comforting to us, as, sensi- 



FRIENDS IN NORWAY 283 

ble to severance from home and home ties, our loved 
ones have been commended, with our own souls, to 
the protecting care and guidance of the Lord. Punc- 
tually at 10 o'clock on Fourth-day, the 23d, about 
forty assembled, including fifteen who are in member- 
ship. On First-day from twenty to thirty usually 
sit down together. Tollag Roisland is not the only 
Friend whose voice is heard acceptably among 
them. We met again at 4 o'clock, and both these 
meetings were, we believe, owned and blessed of the 
Lord. 

"On Fifth-day, the 24th, we set out before 8. 
The weather continued bright and beautiful. Some 
of the mountain ranges are from 1,500 to 2,000 feet 
high. At Rafos the River Quina, alluded to above, 
rushes through a narrow chasm of rock, over which it 
tumbles in broken water and spray, producing a fine 
effect. We reached Aamot about noon for a meeting 
there. About fifty assembled in the room wherein 
we met, which, added to those in the adjoining rooms 
and outside the house, made altogether a consider- 
able company. Allen Jay had good service here, 
earnestly pressing upon the people that 'now is the 
accepted time, now is the day of salvation.' The 
voices of the other Friends were also heard. From 
this place we passed on to Flekke Fjord to lodge, and 
the following morning about 9 we went on board 
the steamer, and, passing the well-known Lindesnaes 
of Norway about 2 o'clock, we landed at Christian- 
sand in the evening, and found comfortable quarters 
at the Britannia Hotel. 

" After having labored together in great harmony 
and brotherly love, we took leave of our dear friend, 
Allen Jay, on board the Hero, which vessel left 



284 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

her moorings about i o'clock on the 26th of Seventh 
month." 

In parting with my dear friends, Isaac Sharp and 
Robert Doeg, at Christiansand, I was made to feel 
how closely we had been united in this work in Nor- 
way. They were going to Denmark, and I was 
returning to resume my labors in England. I have 
always felt that English Friends were very kind in 
arranging for us to travel together. Since that day 
I have often met Isaac Sharp in his own land and in 
ours. He has been in our home, and we have talked 
over those days of traveling together. Dear Robert 
Doeg I never saw again, except when I was in Eng- 
land in 1885, when he was on his bed in his last 
long illness. His wife said he had so often spoken 
about me that she would like me to have the privilege 
of seeing his face. He was too feeble to see me, 
but while he was asleep she took me to his bedroom 
door, and I was permitted to look upon his face for 
the last time. He died the following year at Scotby, 
at the age of seventy-eight years. 



Chapter XXXII 

RELIGIOUS SERVICE IN ENGLAND AND 
SCOTLAND 

Having returned from Norway to England, I had 
a little over three months to devote to work in Eng- 
land and Scotland before sailing for home on the 2 2d 
of Ninth month. Immediately after the close of the 
yearly meeting, in company with a number of other 
Friends, we spent a day of blessing and enjoyment 
going out to visit Jordans and holding meetings 
morning and afternoon in the old meeting-house 
where William Penn, Isaac Penington and Thomas 
El wood used to meet to worship. We had a picnic 
in the grove between the meetings, which we enjoyed 
very much. The graves of William Penn and his 
wife Gulielma and of other noted Friends were 
interesting places to visit, not only for Friends, but 
for other American tourists. We saw the homes of 
Isaac Penington, Thomas Elwood, and the house 
where John Milton wrote "Paradise Regained." I 
sat down in the chair that he was supposed to have 
sat in as he dictated this wonderful poem. 

I had been among meetings in the south of 
England before going to Norway. Now, it was my 
desire to spend my time visiting the middle and 
northern portions of England and the meetings in 
Scotland. Several letters came from Ireland invit- 
ing me to come back there and attend some series 
of meetings, and there were also calls to return to 

(285) 



286 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

the south of England, but my feelings were to attend 
as many of the other meetings as I could during 
the remaining time. Consulting with some of my 
friends, a program was made out for me, which 
closed at Liverpool with the quarterly meeting which 
was to be held there the day before my vessel sailed 
for Philadelphia. Much might be said of my visits 
to many of the interesting meetings and the dear 
Friends I met with, but others have written and 
spoken so much of our English Friends that they 
are becoming more or less familiar to us. It is a 
cause for thankfulness that we are coming more and 
more to know each other, and as this progresses there 
has also grown up a stronger bond of Christian fel- 
lowship with each other and the work we are all 
engaged in. I trust that this feeling may continue 
to grow as years go on. I wish only to add that 
while some have said that the English Friends are a 
little more reserved and harder to get acquainted 
with than some others, I was welcomed into as many 
homes and received with as warm Christian greetings 
as in any place where I have ever labored ; and now, 
after thirty-four years, those days of service are bright 
and pleasant to live over in memory. Many of the 
older ones have passed beyond, but the precious 
young people of that day are joyfully taking their 
places and carrying forward the work. 

During those months there were some experiences 
that I wish to dwell upon as I pass. Prominent 
among these was the general meeting at Ackworth 
Boarding-school. The three days spent there with 
the young people were days of blessing. A large 
number of them were open to hear the Gospel, and 
several expressed a desire to lead Christian lives. 



ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND 287 

Frederick Andrews and wife were the right persons 
to fill the places they held as heads of the institution. 
Much might be said of the workings of the school 
and the good that it has done, but others have 
written its history, and all over England, Canada and 
many places in this land are those who remember 
Ack worth with pleasure. It was my purpose to visit 
all the educational institutions under the care of 
Friends. It was a rare treat to visit Flounders 
Institute in company with Isaac Brown, who was so 
long at the head of it. At the time we were there 
William Scarnell Lean was the principal. It was also 
a treat to spend several days at Darlington, where 
my home was with Theodore Fry. His wife was a 
daughter of John Pease, who at one time paid a 
religious visit to Friends in the United States. While 
we were there they engaged in making preparations 
for a celebration, it having been fifty years since 
the first railroad in the world was completed, from 
Darlington to Stockton, a distance of twenty miles. 
It was built and owned by Edward Pease, a minister 
among Friends. I saw the first locomotive that was 
made and the shop where it was built. Newcastle- 
on-Tyne was a meeting in which I found good 
service. At that place I visited the grave of William 
Hunt. He was the father of Nathan Hunt, grand- 
father of Asenath Clark, and great-grandfather of 
Dr. Dougan Clark, all of whom visited England on 
religious service as ministers afterwards. I went 
on to North Shields, then to Scotland, stopping in 
Edinburgh at the home of William Miller, the father 
of Ellen Clare Miller, who traveled with Eli and 
Sybil Jones in the Holy Land. I visited the castle 
of Edinburgh, saw the Highland regiment, and 



288 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

heard the far-famed bagpipes for the first time. 
Next in course we went to Aberdeen, passing by 
Ury, the home of Robert Barclay. We attended 
the general meeting for Scotland in Aberdeen, which 
proved to be a satisfactory time. The city is built 
of granite, and it sometimes called the "Granite 
City." Next we went to Dimdee, where we had a 
good meeting, and then on to Carlisle, and so on, 
south, taking in the principal meetings on the way. 

On the way up to Scotland I had the pleasure of 
seeing Her Majesty, Queen Victoria, in the station 
at Perth. She was going to her Scotland home. Our 
train stopped for a short time, and as the guard 
opened my door he asked me if I would like to see 
Her Majesty. Of course I answered "Yes." He 
said, "Follow me," which I did. Our train was 
standing on the far side of the station, and she had 
gone upstairs on the opposite side to take luncheon. 
Carpet was laid down across the station, and a line 
of soldiers stood on each side from the train to the 
door where she would come down. My guard took 
me and placed me between the soldier and the wall 
by the side of the door. I thought it was rather a 
bold act, but took the place. On the opposite side 
of the door was the mayor of the city in his official 
uniform. We had to wait only two or three minutes 
until John Brown, her noted servant, came down, 
soon followed by Leopold and his physician, then by 
several ladies in waiting. They were followed by 
her daughter Beatrice. When Her Majesty came 
down, she stopped in the door and reached out her 
hand, when the mayor, bowing down on one knee, 
took her hand and kissed it. She then entered into 
conversation with him about some matters in regard 



ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND 289 

to the welfare of the city. Standing so near that 
I could have laid my hand on her gave me a good 
opportunity to see and hear. To me she appeared to 
be a noble woman with a large, motherly heart and 
while not handsome, yet pleasing to look upon. I 
greatly appreciated the opportunity which I thus 
enjoyed, which, however, lasted only a few minutes, 
until she passed on to the train and it pulled out of 
the station. 

Especially did I enjoy my visit to York, attending 
that meeting where so many influential Friends 
lived, and also visiting the two large schools there, 
one for girls and one for boys. They are excellent 
institutions, and have been a great blessing to the 
Church. York is the center of a great Quaker influ- 
ence. My home there was with Henry and Maria 
Richardson, at "Cherry Hill ' ' house, and I also had the 
pleasure of visiting in a number of other homes. I 
also visited Scarborough, where I made my home with 
Daniel Pryor Hack. Isaac Brown went with me. It 
was at the time when Robert Pearsall and Hannah 
Whitall Smith were having a great holiness con- 
ference, held in the Com Exchange, which would 
seat a large number of people. It was said 
that there were 600 ministers in attendance from 
England, Ireland and the continent of Europe. 
There was certainly a great interest manifested 
among the Christians, and, being acquainted with 
our dear friends, who were from Philadelphia, they 
arranged for me to sit upon the platform, so that 
I had an opportunity to see and hear. These meet- 
ings were greatly blessed to many, and our dear 
friends were very popular. 

I was very much interested in visiting the meeting 

19 



2 90 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

and Friends at Bristol. This was one of the places 
where, in the beginning of our society, when the 
parents were all in prison, the children under fourteen 
years of age met on the ruins of the meeting-house 
that had been pulled down by the soldiers and held 
their religious meetings. Here was where our 
friend, Joseph Storrs Fry, lived, who was clerk of 
the yearly meeting at that time, and who was at the 
head of the firm of Frys who manufactured cocoa. 
It was instructive to go with him to visit the factory. 
It was the custom at a certain hour in the morning 
for a large bell to ring, then the workmen, 2,000 
in number, went directly to a large room, and there 
religious services were conducted for about thirty 
minutes, consisting in singing hymns, reading a 
chapter, and prayer. Then they returned to their 
work. These workmen were paid for this half-hour 
as for any other half-hour during the day. It is 
hardly necessary to add that in such a manufacturing 
company they never have any strikes. I am glad to 
say that the Cadbury Cocoa Company does the same 
thing now at Birmingham, except that they have 
such a large number of workmen that only the 
women can go one morning and the men the next 
morning. The same thing is true of the Rowntree 
Company, York. In addition they are interested in 
the physical comfort and welfare of their workmen, 
providing playgrounds, libraries and other things 
which add to their physical and religious welfare. 

Thus I visited the leading meetings throughout 
England, coming finally to Liverpool, where I 
attended the quarterly meeting and did some other 
religious work in and around the city, closing up on 
the 2ist, the night before I sailed for home. 



ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND 291 

Having thus hastily reviewed my labors in Eng- 
land, Ireland, Scotland and Norway in 1875, I hope 
it will not be considered improper to close this 
account with the returning minute sent to North 
Carolina Yearly Meeting by the English Friends after 
my return home. They say: " Our thoughts have at 
this time turned toward our beloved friend, Allen 
Jay, who a year ago was in attendance at our yearly 
meeting in the prosecution of his religious engage- 
ments on this side of the Atlantic. We desire to 
convey to you our warm appreciation of his accept- 
able services and our thankfulness to the Lord that 
the labors of His servant were extended to this land. 
Allen Jay was diligently engaged in His Master's 
work while here, and also during the two weeks in 
which he visited Friends and others in Norway. We 
would make a special allusion to the warm acceptance 
of his ministry amongst the young people of this 
yearly meeting, many of whom, as well as other 
older Friends, hold him in loving remembrance. 

" Signed on behalf and by direction of the yearly 
meeting of ministers and elders of London Yearly 
Meeting, held the 3d of Sixth month, 1876. W. D. 
Sims, clerk." 



Chapter XXXIII 

WITH STANLEY PUMPHREY IN AMERICA 

It was a bright day when Stanley Pumphrey and 
I went on board the steamer Illinois at Liverpool, 
bound for Philadelphia. Our dear friend, Stanley 
Ptimphrey, had been liberated by London Yearly 
Meeting to visit the meetings of Friends in America 
and he came home with me for the purpose of enter- 
ing upon this extensive work. He did not know 
what lay before him, but expected it to require 
three or four years to complete the task. A number 
of Friends came to see us off. We occupied the same 
stateroom. Otir voyage was a rather pleasant one, 
but my friend suffered with seasickness during the 
first half of the voyage, while I enjoyed freedom 
from it and took pleasure in waiting on him and 
endeavoring to make him comfortable. The first 
thing he could eat was a piece of a good ripe Ameri- 
can watermelon. It was a happy feeling that came 
over me as we entered the mouth of the Delaware 
River one beautiful morning and sailed up towards 
the city of Philadelphia. My dear friend Stanley 
Pumphrey thus alludes to it in his Memoirs: ** Sail- 
ing up the Delaware, my dear brother Allen Jay sat 
by me on the deck. We said but little to one an- 
other for the hearts of both of us were full. Allen 
Jay was returning home from a service in which the 
Lord had greatly blessed him. I was entering upon 
one the responsibility of which I felt exceedingly, 

(292) 



WITH STANLEY PUMPHREY 293 

but in which I was trusting to the help and blessing of 
God. My thoughts went back to other years as I 
picttired William Penn sailing up that same river 
with a band of men and women driven from their own 
land by persecution, resolved to try on this virgin 
soil the 'holy experiment' of founding a state the 
corner-stone of whose policy should be liberty of 
conscience and in which the endeavor should be made 
to carry out the divine precepts of the Saviour in His 
sermon on the mount, of peace and good- will towards 
all men." 

I had been engaged in preparing my things 
in readiness to go ashore immediately upon arriv- 
ing at the dock when suddenly I remembered my 
friend with a feeling that I had neglected him, for 
I recalled my feelings when landing on the other 
side as a stranger several months before, with a bur- 
den resting upon me as I looked forward to a service 
among strangers in a strange land. Immediately 
going upon deck, I found him sitting on the hindmost 
part of the ship, hidden from view and weeping. 
Sitting down by his side in silence I hardly knew 
what to say. Finally I ventured to say that I 
remembered my feelings when landing in Ireland 
and could sympathize with him, but now I was re- 
tiu-ning with the reward of peace and with thank- 
fulness that the Lord had been with me and strength- 
ened me for the work, and that I trusted in course 
of time he might be permitted to do the same when 
his work was done in this land. Never shall I 
forget his look of sorrow as he turned to me and said : 
*' Allen Jay, that is not the trouble. I could give 
up home and friends and joyfully enter upon the 
work in this land, but I am overwhelmed with sorrow 



2 94 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

because the Lord has given me a message for Phila- 
delphia Yearly Meeting and I have seen clearly 
that many of the Friends will not receive it. " 

When in coming months he met with opposition 
in various meetings in the limits of the yearly meet- 
ing, that scene on the Illinois that beautiful morning 
would come before me — this servant of God weeping 
because they would not receive the message that God 
sent him to deliver. I have known most of the lead- 
ing ministers in our Society during the last fifty 
years. To my mind few have been his equal in 
spiritual life and insight into the deep things of God. 
So my heart was pained and dipped into deep feeling 
of sympathy with him when he was met by Friends 
and told that it would not be acceptable for him to 
sit in the gallery. At another place the first thing 
that was said to him was, " Well, Stanley, I am not 
glad to see thee making the appearance thou dost. " 
He says : " I sat down near the end of the gallery and 
as far as human sympathy went I never felt so 
lonely in my life, but my gracious Master drew near 
to me and encompassed me with His love and I 
prayed out my soul before Him with many tears. 
After the close of the meeting a leading elder pursued 
me and told me that I ought not again to sit in the 
gallery and that I was setting a bad example." 
Similar propositions met him at a nimiber of the 
meetings within the yearly meeting; but we turn 
from this to the other side of the picture. He tells 
what great comfort he met with in the attendance 
of other meetings. At Twelfth Street, Philadelphia, 
Germantown, Burlington, Haverford and many 
others they received his message, and he spoke 
especially of the comfort he enjoyed being in the 



WITH STANLEY PUMPHREY 295 

homes of John B. Garrett, Robert B. Haines, Eliza 
P. Gumey and also many other homes and meetings. 
He says: "I attended Twelfth Street Meeting far 
oftener than any other and I always received the 
warmest of welcomes there, and in many other 
places in and around Philadelphia the Friends were 
generally willing to listen to me, and I have faith 
to believe the seed was not sown in vain. " Those of 
us who have known Philadelphia for the last forty 
years and who have had the privilege during the past 
few years of coming in contact more or less with the 
earnest and faithful body of younger and middle-aged 
Friends as well as some who are older, and witnessing 
their devoted laibors in building up the Redeemer's 
Kingdom in various lines of Christian work are 
forced to say that that which was sown in tears is 
bringing forth abundance of fruit to the glory of the 
Master of the Vineyard. Pumphrey was a man who 
had understanding of the signs of the times and knew 
what Israel ought to do. During the four years 
that he was in this land he labored to unite the 
Society in this country in their work on foreign 
missions. It became a real concern and he wrote and 
spoke on the subject in nearly all our yearly meet- 
ings, and when he returned home he was disap- 
pointed, saying, " I shall not see it, but it will come 
to pass before many years. " We now see it accom- 
plished in the American Friends Board of Foreign 
Missions, which was adopted by the last Five Years 
Meeting. 

Friends of America owe much to the visits of 
our dear English Friends, not only those of the 
older class who visited us years ago, such as Jona- 
than and Hannah Backhouse, William and Josiah 



2 96 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

Foster, Joseph John Gumey, Joseph Bevan Braith- 
waite, Sarah B. S. Clarke and a number of others 
who have attended our conferences and Five Years 
Meetings, but among the younger class such as John 
Wilhelm Rowntree, Stanley Pumphrey, Henry 
Stanley Newman and Harriet Green. The three 
latter visited the Society more generally, went into 
the study of our needs and wants, entered many 
homes not only along the Atlantic shore and on the 
prairies of the West, but went down into the South 
also. They knew how to sympathize with the 
meetings which held their religious services in sod 
houses , and with the homes where Friends lived in 
log cabins, driving for miles over the prairies, through 
snow and mud and over the difficult roads of the South. 
I have spoken of my unity and sweet fellowship 
in labor with Stanley Pumphrey. It was equally 
precious to sit by the side of Henry Stanley Newman 
and hold up his hands while he proclaimed the Gos- 
pel. It was in our own home that I had the privilege 
of preparing a program for his four years' labor in 
America, and so closely were we united in labor in 
some parts of the work that we received the appella- 
tion of David and Jonathan. It was also our priv- 
ilege to have dear Harriet Green in our home and to 
follow her in sympathy and prayers in her labors and 
joumeyings in our land, from the Atlantic to the 
Pacific coasts and also down in the South, and to be 
present when the dear Friends of North Carolina laid 
her to rest imder the spreading oak in the cemetery 
near Guilford College which she had learned to love 
so well. I am glad that these have lived and labored 
among us and rejoice that I have known them all and 
labored with them. I am a better man to-day and 



WITH STANLEY PUMPHREY 297 

have a wider vision of God's love and goodness 
because I have known such servants of His. 

After reaching home our monthly, quarterly and 
yearly meetings came on in the three following weeks. 
I returned the minute granted me one year before 
with accounts of my journey ings and labors. A 
review of the work brought a sweet and quiet rest to 
my mind. The report was received kindly by the 
meeting. Our dear friend, Stanley Pumphrey, 
attended Baltimore Yearly Meeting and then came 
on to North Carolina Yearly Meeting. It was 
pleasant to have him in our home. He was a wel- 
come member of the household and quite a favorite 
with the children. 

During the spring and summer of 1 876 I was much 
with him in visiting the meetings of Friends in 
North Carolina and Tennessee and we closed our 
labors together at Hampton, Va., where we made 
our home with George Dixon and visited the colored 
school under the care of General Armstrong and 
spoke to the students several times. When through 
here we separated. Stanley Pumphrey says : " I felt 
sad at parting with dear Allen Jay, to whom my 
heart had become closely bound in brotherly love. 
'We shall neither of us ever forget these weeks of 
associated service,' he said, and then knelt down and 
prayed with me once more. I had a comfortable 
voyage up the Chesapeake Bay back to Baltimore. " 

Having alluded to the interest taken by Stanley 
Pumphrey and Henry Stanley Newman in organiz- 
ing the American Friends Board of Foreign Missions, 
I propose to give a brief statement of the growth and 
formation of this Foreign Mission Board among 
Friends in America. 



Chapter XXXIV 

THE AMERICAN FRIENDS BOARD OF 
FOREIGN MISSIONS 

My lifetime has compassed the whole time of the 
work of American Friends in foreign missions, so far 
as organized work goes. We have always been 
known for our active sympathy and Christian labor 
for the Indian aborigines of our coimtry and for 
the oppressed negro race as foiind amongst us; but 
we were not among the earliest of the American 
Churches to reach outside of our country in efforts 
to carry the Gospel to needy nations beyond. The 
earliest, so far as I know or recollect, of missionaries 
going forth from us to other lands were Joel and 
Hannah E. Bean, of Iowa (Friends of Iowa being 
then a part of Indiana Yearly Meeting). In Tenth 
month, i860, information was laid before the meet- 
ing for sufferings of Indiana Yearly Meeting that 
Joel Bean had been liberated according to the order 
of Friends "to visit in the love of the Gospel the 
inhabitants of the Sandwich Islands and to stand 
resigned to reside for some time among them. " The 
meeting for sufferings united with his concern and 
appointed a committee of leading Friends to render 
him necessary assistance, to correspond with him, 
while so engaged, and report to that meeting. The 
committee was also authorized to draw upon the 
treasury of the yearly meeting as they thought 
necessary. Later it was decided that his wife, 

(298) 



BOARD OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 299 

Hannah E. Bean and their infant daughter shotdd 
go with him, and her monthly meeting, Red Cedar, 
Iowa, gave her a minute Hberating her to accompany 
him. Of this companionship, after experience in 
the work on these islands, Joel Bean wrote to the 
committee : ** Nothing has appeared clearer than the 
wisdom of my dear wife's accompanying me. Her 
company has all along been one great means of 
opening my way, and together we can go and labor 
where I could not go without her." Now that she 
has so recently passed from earth (January 31, 1909), 
it is grateful to my feelings to make record of the 
esteem in which she was held on those islands by 
natives and missionaries alike. But to return. 
They sailed from New York, Sixth month 21, 1861, 
and delaying a short time in San Francisco, they 
reached Honolulu on the 19th of Eighth month. 
They spent a part of their time on each of the three 
largest islands of the group, and remained until the 
next spring, distributing Bibles and tracts, preach- 
ing the Gospel, visiting many in their homes, teach- 
ing in the mission schools, and part of the time 
having evening schools of their own. Joel Bean in 
one of his letters said: "It has been my privilege 
to address a very large proportion of the native popu- 
lation in their religious meetings." (The native 
population numbered then about 71,000.) They 
were warmly invited by some of the missionaries to 
remain there and help them, especially in the work 
of female education, but they felt that the work to 
which they were called was completed, and sailed 
homeward from Honolulu on the 24th of Fifth 
month, 1862. The knowledge of their work was 
but little diffused among Friends, being confined 



300 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

pretty much to the members of the meeting for 
sufferings, antedating as that work did the formation 
of any foreign missionary board in any yearly meet- 
ing of Friends. 

But the spirit of foreign missions was beginning 
to start again among Friends. Three years later, 
in 1865, Friends in England organized an associa- 
tion or board for foreign mission work. To this 
board Louis and Sarah Street, then of Richmond, 
Indiana, applied to be sent as missionaries to Mada- 
gascar. They were accepted, and went out in 1867 
and labored there successfully for about ten years. 
Two years later, in 1869, Elkanah and Irene S. 
Beard, also of Indiana Yearly Meeting, went as 
missionaries to India under the care and support of 
English Friends, and between these dates, 1867 and 
1869, Eli and Sybil Jones, of New England Yearly 
Meeting, who had visited Liberia on a missionary 
tour as early as 1851, made their religious visits in 
Syria and became in fact the initiators of American 
Friends mission work in Palestine, though in the 
beginning it was connected with the work of English 
Friends. In 1868 some members of Indiana Yearly 
Meeting formed a foreign mission association with 
the twofold object as set forth in their statement 
of the subject, i. e., "First, to present to those who 
may feel called upon to go abroad among heathen 
nations in the love of the Gospel, an organization 
that can aid, counsel, and advise. Second, to be a 
channel for the gifts of the willing hearted in this 
direction and thus provide means for the necessary 
expenses of those men and women who shall enter 
upon this service." They invited the correspond- 
ence of any who might feel it their duty to engage 



BOARD OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 301 

in this class of Christian work. From the first this 
association was in correspondence with Louis and 
Sarah Street for their help and encouragement in 
their work in Madagascar. Before it Elkanah and 
Irene S. Beard laid their concern to go to India, and 
it recommended them to the English board. To it 
Samuel A. Purdie, the veteran missionary in Mexico, 
soon applied, and he and his wife were sent out 
tmder its care and support in 187 1. 

Samuel A. Purdie was a native of New York 
State, but for some time previous to the above date 
he had been teaching in North Carolina, at the same 
time struggling with the sense of a call to go to 
Mexico as a missionary, and was even then studying 
the Spanish language in preparation for that work. 
I will say here that, when the Baltimore Association 
called me to take charge of the work in North Caro- 
lina, I found one of the teachers, Samuel A. Purdie, of 
New York, had caught the missionary spirit and was 
feeling that Mexico was calling him to come over 
and help. He was not enjoying the work he was 
engaged in, for his mind was in Mexico. The 
second year I was there this was impressed upon me 
so clearly that I never doubted it again. Driving 
up to the schoolhouse at Back Creek one day at the 
noon recess, I found him out in the woods, sitting 
on an old log with a big Spanish miner sitting by 
his side, engaged in studying the Spanish language. 
When I came up he said: "Excuse me, for I must 
obtain a knowledge of Spanish," and in a serious 
manner added, "Some day the Lord will open the 
way for me to use this knowledge to His glory." 
So a few months after this time, when Charles F. 
Coffin, of Richmond, Indiana, wrote for my opinion 



302 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

about Samuel A. Purdie's going to Mexico as a mis- 
sionary, I was prepared to give my approval. There 
was no doubt but that he was filled with the true 
missionary spirit. His mind and heart were there, 
and he longed to be there in body. It was not home 
to him anywhere else. He rejoiced when the time 
came to leave all and go, and when he received the 
word that he was accepted by the committee, it did 
not take him long to be on the way. He came to our 
house one evening with his youthful wife. It was 
a night long to be remembered. We talked until a 
late hour of the work ahead of them. Neither of us 
knew much about what foreign missionary work 
meant, but the way looked bright before him. To 
him it was the way of duty. His wife, who was 
leaving all her people, was nevertheless cheerful in 
the prospect of the work before them. Next morn- 
ing in family worship we all knelt together and com- 
mended each other to Him who putteth forth His 
own and goeth before them. We loaded what few 
goods they had into the spring wagon and drove to 
the depot at High Point, where they took the train. 
As I watched the train go out of sight and turned 
away feeling that it was carrying a man who was going 
cheerfully at the call of the Master. He believed 
the Master had other sheep who were not of his 
fold, and he was going in the name of the Shepherd 
to bring them in. Samuel A. Purdie continued at 
the head of this mission about twenty-five years, 
organizing and developing it successftilly on three 
main lines : Gospel preaching, publishing, and schools. 
When he left it he left six native Friends, recorded 
ministers, at work, also many trained teachers and 
other native helpers, and the printing press, doing a 



BOARD OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 30^ 

large business for its small resources and limited 
field, and more than 500 Mexicans brought into the 
Church. The time came when he believed he heard 
the call to another portion of the vineyard. There 
was no hesitation on his part. He hastened on and 
entered this latter field, and when the Master called 
He found him faithful unto death. He laid down 
his life in the field. Thus lived and died Samuel A. 
Purdie. Others may have been just as devoted, may 
have done a greater work, but none have been more 
loyal, none possessed a truer missionary spirit. 

This Indiana Association found its work increased 
on its hands beyond its ability to support, and in 
1874 the yearly meeting accepted and adopted as 
her own both the association and its Mexican work. 
For some years after the opening of this Friends 
mission in Mexico, nearly all the yearly meetings 
gave it more or less encouragement and support, 
but most of these, one after another, chose each a 
field, organized a board, and started a mission of 
its own. Each of these missions had a constituency 
larger or smaller of attached and devoted supporters, 
and much good work has been done by them. But 
as for grasping the idea that ** the field is the world, " 
these yearly meetings ran all over the world almost 
in selecting their mission fields, with little reference 
to the location of one another. They were generally 
not even co-operative, but isolated and independent. 

In this initiative period Stanley Pumphrey, of 
England, visited Friends in America, and during the 
four years of his visit he looked carefully into the 
condition of foreign mission work in the different 
yearly meetings. He saw, as he thought, that Ameri- 
can Friends would dissipate their strength by 



3 04 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

division into small independent boards whose sepa- 
rate missions, often meagerly supported, must per- 
force be weak, and to make their work more effective 
he earnestly advised the imion of all American 
Friends in one general mission board. His propo- 
sition met with some favor. While he was here 
Ohio Yearly Meeting adopted a minute in accord 
with his ideas and sent it to the other yearly meet- 
ings, inviting them to join in forming one general 
board; but Friends did not fall in with the plan. 
Indiana Yearly Meeting appointed a committee on 
the subject when the Ohio minute was laid before 
it, but released its committee the next year. In 
1885 Iowa Yearly Meeting presented a proposition 
to the yearly meetings (imder the pressure brought 
to bear by one Levi Johnson, for imited work in 
Africa) that American Friends form a union foreign 
mission board. The plan was favorably considered 
by several yearly meetings to the extent of appoint- 
ing committees to join with others in considering 
the subject, but not enough tmited in it to accom- 
plish the purpose. Indiana Yearly Meeting ap- 
pointed a large committee to take the subject into 
consideration and report the next year. This 
committee reported in 1886 so far favorably as to 
recommend the appointment of a committee of five 
to consult with committees of other yearly meetings, 
and if the way opened, for it to enter into the forma- 
tion of such a board. They nominated for this 
committee Mahalah Jay, Lilburn White, Allen Jay, 
Timothy Nicholson and Ellen C. Wright. Their 
report was united with and those named appointed. 
This committee stood, doing what it could for the 
cause, until a plan of union was adopted by the 



r 





BOARD OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 305 

General Conference of Friends in 1892, and the 
yearly meeting appointed members of the American 
Friends board instead. In 1888 this Indiana com- 
mittee, aided by Henry Stanley Newman, of Eng- 
land, a brother-in-law of Stanley Pumphrey and 
sympathizing fully with his views of the need of 
united work in the missions of American Friends, 
being in America and in attendance at Indiana 
Yearly Meeting that year, this committee with his 
assistance (in reality Mahalah Jay, the secretary of 
the committee, and he did the work) framed a plan 
or constitution for a union board of missions and 
laid it before Indiana Yearly Meeting. The yearly 
meeting approved it and sent it forth to the other 
yearly meetings, asking their concurrence therein, 
only to meet the same fate as came upon the pre- 
ceding efforts. So much time and effort did it take 
to educate our people to the idea of a union board, 
and that too although the women of the yearly 
meeting had united in a foreign mission union for 
work in the home field to promote foreign missions, 
and their success had demonstrated the possibility 
and the advantage of such a union. 

At the General Conference of Friends in Indian- 
apolis, in 1892, a member of the above committee, 
Mahalah Jay, urged the business committee of the 
conference, of which I was chairman, to make way 
for this subject of a union foreign mission board to 
be brought before the conference and discussed there. 
It was done, and how fully it was discussed may be 
seen in the stenographic reports of the conference. 
After this discussion, showing about how far Friends 
were prepared to go, the subject was referred to 
a committee, and a plan for a union board, drafted 
20 



3o6 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

by William P. Pinkham and Mahalah Jay, which 
was equally a board of reference and advice and for 
gathering and disseminating missionary information, 
was reported to the conference at a later session and 
by it adopted. It was directed that the plan be laid 
before the American yearly meetings as they came 
in course. The requisite number of yearly meetings 
united in it and appointed their members of such 
a board. The board was organized in the summer 
of 1894, at Wilmington, Ohio, at the time of Wil- 
mington Yearly Meeting, Mahalah Jay was ap- 
pointed secretary and Ellen C. Wright treasurer, 
and the American Friends Board of Foreign Missions 
was laimched. 

The board entered at once upon its duties, 
opened correspondence with all the American Friends 
foreign mission boards and collected and published 
in the following year an eight-page report, partly 
historical and partly statistical, as complete as 
could be secured, of all the foreign mission work of 
American Friends, and it has continued to report 
annually on these subjects since then. 

The uniform discipline adopted in its plan of a 
general foreign mission board most of the features 
of the plan on which the American Friends board 
was organized and added the function of authority 
to engage in field work. The American Friends 
board, in its reorganization for the second term of 
five years, placed itself in line with the proposed 
plan of the uniform discipline and prepared to take 
up field work in Cuba. At the close of the Spanish 
War the pressure was great upon the people of the 
United States to carry the Gospel to the West Indies 
and other Spanish islands. The American Friends 



BOARD OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 307 

board, having been applied to by one or more yearly 
meeting boards and by different individuals who 
felt that in some way Friends must take part in this 
work, submitted to the yearly meetings in 1899 the 
suggestion of imited work in this island. A number 
of the larger yearly meetings, embracing more than 
half of the Friends in America, promptly approved 
the plan and pledged financial support. Others 
joined in later. Early in the next year Zenas L. 
Martin, of Iowa, was sent to Cuba to survey the field 
and recommend a place to begin. The north side 
of the province of Santiago, now Oriente, was 
selected. In the next fall, 1900, four missionaries 
were sent and the work begun, a work on which the 
blessing of God has rested and from which desired 
results have been rapidly reaped, comparatively 
speaking. Under the wise and faithful manage- 
ment of the superintendent, Zenas L. Martin, who 
still remains in the field, three principal mission 
stations have been opened and provided with the 
necessary buildings for mission residences and meet- 
ing purposes as well as schools. Through the dili- 
gent labors of godly missionaries, a monthly meet- 
ing, with Sunday school, Christian Endeavor Society 
etc., has been gathered from the native population 
at each place, also a day school at each place, which 
is partly self-supporting. An out-station or village 
work is kept up at several other places. Wilmington 
Yearly Meeting's work in Cuba, joined by organic 
affiliation with the American Friends board, also 
North Carolina's, ready for the same affiliation, have 
been prospered under the same superintendent. 
Thus all the Friends work in Cuba, employing some 
ten or sixteen missionaries working effectively and 



3o8 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

harmoniously under one superintendent, makes an 
excellent showing of what may be expected from a 
judiciously appointed union board. 

When the Five Years Meeting was organized in 
1902 it adopted this American Friends board, 
already organized and incorporated in accordance 
with the plans of the imiform discipline, as its board 
of foreign missions, extending and defining more 
particularly its scope and function. One of these 
specifications was that it should be the duty of this 
board to represent American Friends in matters 
pertaining to the interdenominational aspects of 
foreign mission work, thus settling by authority the 
propriety of the board acting in such cases, for 
almost from the first this board has been applied to 
in such cases as there was no other general missionary 
board among American Friends. It has represented 
Friends in missionary publications and periodicals 
of a general character, in general missionary con- 
ventions, conferences and boards, both national and 
international, including the student volunteer and 
young people's missionary movements, and it has 
usually, upon invitation, appointed delegates to 
these as they have occiu-red. Upon request Friends 
appointed two members of the general committee 
of arrangements for the great ecumenical conference 
held in New York City in 1900, and gave credentials 
to the twelve delegates to the conference which were 
allotted to American Friends. With much labor, 
because the information had not before been col- 
lected and put into shape, it furnished the promoters 
of that conference the information they requested 
concerning Friends and their foreign mission work, 
for their reports and general tables, and brought its 



BOARD OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 309 

own statistical reports into line with the form that 
the conference adopted for the world of missions. 
The American Friends had then and have had since 
then a recognized and creditable place, for the size of 
their denomination, in the great councils and other 
general forces that make for the evangelization of 
the world. 

Having attained a small measure of union in 
missionary work, there was a widespread unrest 
among American Friends and a desire that this 
union should be more comprehensive. The Ameri- 
can Friends board was applied to by four yearly 
meeting boards and from other sources to call a 
general conference of American Friends to consider 
this subject. It called the conference, notifying all 
the foreign, mission organizations of American Friends 
to send delegates to it, which they did. The con- 
ference met in October, 1906, in Richmond, Indiana, 
and with unexpected unanimity agreed on a basis of 
union that would in the end make the American 
Friends Board of Foreign Missions the sole agent of 
the various yearly meetings for the administration 
and control of their foreign mission work. The 
board was reorganized at the Five Years Meeting in 
1907 with this end in view, and appointed as gen- 
eral field secretary Charles E. Tebbetts, who is now 
taking hold of the work vigorously, being located at 
Richmond, Indiana. He sailed on the 24th of Second 
month on a visit to Jamaica, Cuba and Mexico, re- 
turning by way of California, Oregon and other 
Western yearly meetings. 

But all does not depend on union. The success- 
ful work of independent yearly meeting boards and 
other foreign mission associations of American 



3IO AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

Friends is matter for sympathetic and joyftil con- 
gratulation of the faithful workers in those organiza- 
tions. The aggregate results and their steady 
growth may be shown in a few statements. The first 
twenty-five years were like most years of beginnings. 
Since 1895, when the American Friends Board of 
Foreign Missions collected its first statistical report, 
the annual home contributions of American Friends 
for foreign missions has risen from $32,500 to about 
$78,000; that of the native Church membership, 
gathered through the missions, from $793 to $4,190. 
The pupils in mission schools have increased from 
728 to 2,736; the number of missionaries from 43 
to a full 100. Other comparisons equally encourag- 
ing might be made. Our American Friends mis- 
sions, in ten different countries, seem to engirdle the 
earth. A number of them and their tried and 
faithful missionaries appeal strongly to me for 
special mention in this account, but time and space 
forbid. We really have done commendably since 
we began to work at foreign missions, but we have 
not come up to our ability in this line of service 
for our Master. Let us be of good cheer, and in 
whatever way we find it best for us to work, let us 
not fail our Lord, but do our part of the work that 
He intends for qui generation. 



Chapter XXXV 

ALBERT K. SMILEY AND THE PROVI- 
DENCE SCHOOL 

In the autumn of 1876 my wife and I attended 
the Centennial Exposition, in Philadelphia, taking 
our son William with us, and while there I took 
him to Providence, Rhode Island, and entered him 
as a student in Friends Boarding-school, located in 
that city, now called " Moses Brown School. " 

During the winter of 1876-77 I foimd much to 
claim my time in finishing the work in North Caro- 
lina that I felt it right to do before leaving. In the 
spring I attended New York Yearly Meeting, and 
while there Albert K. Smiley, principal of Friends 
Boarding-school, Providence, asked me to take the 
position of treasurer of the school, and also to 
exercise my gift in the ministry in the meetings of 
the school and to have general oversight of the 
religious work of the institution. This offer, after 
some consideration, my wife and I felt it right to 
accept, believing that the time had come to leave 
the yearly meeting that was dear to us, for a fear 
rested upon my mind that Friends paid too much 
attention to my judgment. In other words, I was 
having more influence in the yearly meeting than 
was best for any one man to exercise for his own 
good or for the good of the Church. It leads the 
Church to depend too much on one individual and 
may result in injury to the individual who exercises 

(311) 



312 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

such influence. The parting was a day long to be 
remembered at old Springfield meeting. We left 
on Second-day morning, and on the First-day before 
a great concourse of people were at the meeting. 
However, as I have returned again and again to 
visit that yearly meeting, and have witnessed the 
way that the young men and young women who 
have now grown up are carrying forward the work 
of the Church, I am more and more convinced that 
it was the leading of the Spirit that took us away at 
the time we left. 

So, when school opened at Providence that 
autumn, we were comfortably located in the building 
at the school and oui three children were entered as 
students. We had oiu* rights of membership trans- 
ferred to Providence Monthly Meeting, and became 
members of New England Yearly Meeting. I settled 
down to my work in the institution, work which I 
greatly enjoyed, as those four years were years of 
great blessing to me. Our association with Albert K. 
Smiley, the principal, and his wife, Eliza P. Smiley, 
together with his twin brother, Alfred H. Smiley, 
and his wife and family, who were generally there in 
the winter time, were such that it always brings up 
pleasant recollections as we look back to those days. 
It was a pleasure to speak to the dear young people 
twice a week, to be with them in their First-day 
school work, and to attend their prayer meetings. 
It was a cause of rejoicing to see some of them giving 
themselves to the Lord and growing up to become 
useful members of the Church. New England was 
different from North Carolina, and yet we found an 
open door there for service. 



THE PROVIDENCE SCHOOL 313 

The Origin of the Moses Brown School 

It may be well to stop and give a little sketch of 
the school. I quote from the catalogue of 1904: 
" It was founded by Moses Brown, Providence, who 
was also a founder of Brown University and the 
first president who suggested the removal of the 
university from Warren to Providence. He was one 
of Rhode Island's most eminent citizens, a founder 
of literary and benevolent institutions, as well as of 
great manufacturing industries which have been of 
vast and perpetual benefit to the whole country. 
Isaac Lawton opened a school at Portsmouth, Rhode 
Island, Eleventh month 8, 1784. It continued for 
foiir years, and then for want of fim.ds was discon- 
tinued until 1 81 9, when it was opened in Providence, 
and has continued with slight interruption until the 
present time. 

The school was in successful operation during 
the last seventeen years of the life of Moses 
Brown, and claimed his constant watchful care. He 
gave to it annually during this period $100, and in 
addition to many small donations he gave another 
lot of land and $15,000 in money in his will. It is 
probable that his example influenced his son, 
Obadiah, who had a great regard for his father, to 
give to it the sum of over $100,000 in his will, which 
the school received in 1822. John G. Whittier 
wrote of the school : 



Not vainly the gift of its founder has made, 

Not prayerless the stones of its corner were laid ; 

The blessing of Him Whom in secret they sought 

Has owned the good work which the fathers have wrought. 



314 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

Albert K. Smiley 

My remarks, I feel, would be incomplete without 
some allusion to the principal, Albert K. Smiley, 
who had been in charge seventeen years when I went 
there, and remained two years longer. Perhaps I 
cannot do better than to make a few quotations 
from his own remarks made at Lake Mohonk on the 
day of his golden wedding, Seventh month 8, 1907 : 
*' When my brother and I were fourteen years old, 
the principal of the academy we were attending had 
a fifteen minutes' talk with us and told us that we 
ought to prepare for college, and advised us to study 
Latin. This suggestion set us on fire, and the next 
day we started Latin. We had to leave the academy 
in a week or two to chop a year's supply of wood, 
and while chopping we went through the declensions 
and conjugations and read the Latin reader through. 
That fifteen-minute talk took us from the farm, 
sent us through college, and made me an educator 
for thirty years — four years an instructor at Haver- 
ford College; four years at an English and classical 
academy, which my brother and I started at Phila- 
delphia to fit boys for college; two years head of a 
large boarding-school established close to my own 
home; and nineteen years as principal and superin- 
tendent of a semicollegiate school at Providence. 
I will just throw in here that I am still in the educa- 
tional field, and not entirely in hotel life. For thirty 
years I have been a trustee of Bryn Mawr College, 
and I am a trustee of Brown University and of 
Pomona College, California, and president of the 
board of trustees of the State Normal School, New 
Paltz. So I am not fully a hotelkeeper. When my 



THE PROVIDENCE SCHOOL 315 

brother Alfred and I were born we were so much 
alike that our mother tied ribbons on either our arms 
or legs, I don't remember which, to distinguish us. 
None of our neighbors or teachers knew us apart. 
We always worked together, walked together, slept 
together, had measles, mumps and whooping cough 
together, never had a single article of clothing, 
money or anything else separate for twenty-seven 
years. In the morning we jumped into the first suit 
of clothes that came in our way, no matter who 
wore it the day before. Until we were twenty-seven 
years old, when my brother married, we never had 
anything to be called 'mine,' but always 'ours.' " 
In 1856 he became acquainted with Eliza P. 
Cornell, and they were married Seventh month 
8, 1857, in Twentieth Street Meeting-house, New 
York, after the manner of the Quaker ceremony. 
His wife has proved a great blessing and strength to 
him during the years of his active life. They had 
one child, a daughter, who died in early life. I wish 
to bear my testimony to Eliza P. Smiley's noble 
Christian character, a life that has been devoted to 
the good of others. Many a homesick boy and girl 
at Providence can look back and remember her 
loving sympathy and Christian counsel, and in later 
years strong men and women who have visited Lake 
Mohonk have borne away in loving remembrance 
her self-devotion in making their stay at Mohonk a 
pleasant one. To quote again from Albert Smiley's 
own words: "I bought Mohonk with the idea of 
making it a home, expecting the hotel to be con- 
ducted by an agent, planning to live a mile or more 
from the hotel and devote my time to developing 
and beautifying the property. My brother Alfred 



3i6 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

conducted the hotel for ten years, while I remained 
in Providence to earn money to pay off the debt 
and to enlarge the hotel. When he built Minnewaska 
and left Mohonk, I resigned from Providence and 
came here. I desired to have some member of my 
own family to assist me, and secured my brother 
Daniel for the summer of 1880. He was at that 
time chief assistant in the Penn Charter School, 
Philadelphia. In the winter of 1881 I visited him 
there and found him about to publish a Greek gram- 
mar, and, ftirthermore, about to get married. I per- 
suaded him to leave his literary career and join me 
in building up Mohonk. He and his wife came 
here in Jtme, 1881, and have been here ever since. 
Mohonk has afforded me intense pleasure in its devel- 
opment. I have treated this property, the result of 
twenty-six purchases, as a landscape artist does his 
canvas, only my canvas covers seven square miles. 
I never take a walk or a drive over the property 
but I find some ugly trees to be removed, a new 
path to be built, a group of trees or shrubs to be set 
out, a vista to be opened, groups of trees to be 
planted to give seclusion to a too open view, a 
summer house to be built, bright flowers to be set 
out or dead flowers to be removed. I am confident 
that the outdoor life at Mohonk has added years 
to my own and my wife's lives. More than forty 
years ago my wife's health broke down, largely in 
consequence of the loss of our child, and two of 
the best physicians in New England declared she 
cotild not live three months. A little later I too 
suffered as severe a case of nervous prostration as 
I have ever known as a result of overwork in the 
Providence school. We both consider that Mohonk 



THE PROVIDENCE SCHOOL 317 

air and outdoor life have brought us through 
many years in a very fair degree of good health. 
My intense interest in the welfare of the Indians 
and in international arbitration, which has resulted 
in thirty-eight Mohonk conferences, has afforded me 
the greatest satisfaction. Would that I might live 
to see the greater number of international difficulties 
settled by peaceful arbitration! Any suggestion 
about naming a price for this estate has met the 
instant reply that Mohonk is not for sale, and no 
money can ever induce me to part with my home, 
which I love as fondly as a mother her child." 

Associations and Reminiscences of Providence and 
New England 

The committee having charge of the school was 
composed of a number of leading Friends of New 
England Yearly Meeting. Among them were Tabors, 
Rowlands, Chases, Tobeys, Bufkins and other 
family names of New England. It was a pleasure 
to me to associate with these noble men. That 
yearly meeting had been held at Newport, Rhode 
Island, almost from its origin, but while I was a 
member it was held for the first time at Portland, 
Maine, and as Friends had no accommodation there 
sufficient, they were invited to hold it in the City 
Hall. The hall was pretty well filled, and I can call 
to mind some of the leading men who were present 
at that time, among them John G. Whittier, Neal 
Dow, Eli Jones and others who have done noble 
work for the cause. One day during the yearly 
meeting, going down into the basement I found the 
officers of the law engaged in pouring 100 barrels of 
whisky that they had capttired into the mouth of 



3i8 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

the sewer that ran out into the bay. It had been 
shipped into the city under some false name and 
disguised in such a way that it was not expected to 
be detected, but the authorities were on the watch, 
and where there is a disposition to do so there is 
generally a way to find out those who are violating 
the law. It is often said that proliibition did not 
prohibit in Maine. I remember, on one of my 
excursions down into Maine, in two days' drive in 
the carriage I found three jails. One was con- 
verted into a bam, another into a cow stable, and 
the third into a hay bam. They said that since 
prohibition had gone into effect there were no pris- 
oners to occupy them. 

After I had been at Providence two years, A. K. 
Smiley resigned and went to Lake Mohonk, and 
Augustine Jones, who was a lawyer in Boston and 
an active member of New England Yearly Meeting, 
was selected to fill the place. He was a man of 
literary taste, fond of study, and at once took a deep 
interest in the welfare of the institution. My con- 
nection with the institution -under his administration 
was pleasant and agreeable. He encouraged me in 
my department of the work, but soon after this time 
I began to get letters from the managers of Earlham 
College, Indiana, making propositions to me to 
come to that institution and take the position of 
superintendent and treasurer of the college, and my 
wife to take the place of matron. At first it did not 
present itself as very attractive, for my relations at 
Providence were pleasant and without any very 
great responsibility in regard to government or 
control. Yet, after being separated for more than 
a dozen years from all of our relations, the proposi- 



THE PROVIDENCE SCHOOL 319 

tion had something attractive in it, and in view of 
our sons' grov/ing up, there was an indination to 
return to the West. So, after considerable corres- 
pondence, I accepted the position of superintendent 
and treasurer of that institution, but my wife, who 
was not very strong, preferred to be a looker-on for 
one year at least before assuming the office of matron. 
So I resigned my position at Providence, to take 
effect at the close of the second year of Augustine 
Jones's administration and the fotirth year of my 
labors at Friends boarding-school. Again we felt 
the severing of the ties of Christian fellowship that 
had grown up towards our dear New England 
friends. We had formed many warm attachments 
and I had found an open door for labor in the Gospel 
in the limits of the yearly meeting, visiting all the 
quarterly meetings, attending conferences of various 
kinds connected with the yearly meeting work, 
finding comfortable homes to rest in during the 
svimmer vacation in Maine, Lynn, Nantucket Island, 
New Bedford and many other places. Especially 
do I wish to mention the home of the Swan sisters, 
Boston, where many weary laborers have foimd a 
resting place. I shall ever look back with deep 
interest on the four years spent with the Friends of 
New England Yearly Meeting, and I trust that my 
feeble efforts have not been in vain in strengthening 
the work there. 

Four years ago my wife and I attended New 
England Yearly Meeting, held within the walls of the 
old boarding-school. It brought up many mem- 
ories of the past. They gave us my old room to 
sleep in, the same place in the dining room at the 
head of the table, and as I met from day to day 



3 20 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

those who, more than thirty years before, were boys 
and girls in the school, but had now grown up to be 
fathers and mothers, and brought their children up 
to introduce them, it made me feel that I was grow- 
ing old. But as I saw these same people taking 
active part in the yearly meeting, and heard their 
names called on various committees, I felt that the 
dear old Friends boarding-school had not existed in 
vain and that the labors of other days had not been 
lost. 



X 



Chapter XXXVI 

EARLHAM COLLEGE PAST AND PRESENT 

At the close of the boarding-school at Providence, 
Rhode Island, in the summer of 1881, after four 
years' service in that institution, my wife and I, with 
our three sons, left for Earlham College. We went 
directly to my old home at Marion, Indiana. It was 
pleasant to have our faces turned towards our friends 
in Indiana, whom we had left more than twelve 
years before with the prospect of being gone one 
year, little realizing what lay before us. Our expe- 
rience had been varied, and yet we could see the 
hand of the Lord in it all, and now we were returning 
with our family to Indiana Yearly Meeting, where 
I had been a member until I was twenty years old. 
After nine years' experience in North Carolina and 
four in New England Yearly Meeting many friend- 
ships had been formed and a rich experience in 
Christian work had been ours to enjoy, and we had 
no doubt but other doors would open as we came 
to them. Changes had taken place in the home 
circle. My father had passed away a few months 
before, and a brother-in-law and sister-in-law had 
entered the Beyond, besides many dear friends who 
had fallen here and there, leaving work for others 
to take up. It was with a desire to find our place 
that we came, not to rest, but to enter the open door 
that presented itself. We found one, as those who 
are willing to work in the Master's service will 
21 (321) 



32 2 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

always find. We could exclaim that the hand of the 
Lord had been good upon us during these years. 

The next morning I went to Richmond to attend 
the commencement of Earlham College and to get 
a view of our future field of labor. Little did I 
realize what lay before me in connection with my 
work in that institution. It will soon be twenty- 
nine years since I entered its doors as superintendent 
and treasurer, and I have been connected with it in 
some way all these years, as superintendent, treas- 
urer, solicitor, trustee, serving on the board of 
managers and on the various committees connected 
with its management. I have spent months and 
years in visiting meetings, homes and individuals 
within the limits of nearly all the yearly meetings 
in America, also spending three months among the 
dear Friends of England, soliciting funds for the 
building up of the institution and increasing the 
endowment fund. Many and varied have been my 
experiences with meetings and individuals, public 
and private, in this arduous labor. 

The day I reached Earlham is one not to be 
forgotten. It was a hot summer day. The com- 
mencement exercises were held out in the grove be- 
tween Earlham Hall and where Lindley Hall is now 
located. I remember well the sun shining through 
the trees and blistering my bald head. I had just 
left an institution where the buildings were in good 
repair, with plenty of toom, and with sufficient funds 
to run it in a creditable manner, with its enrollment 
of between two hundred and three hundred students. 
Here was a college with one building for everything 
■ — cooking, living, sleeping, eating, laundry work, 
study, recitations, lectures, library, reading room, 



EARLHAM COLLEGE 323 

museum, laboratory, meeting room^ society halls, 
etc., etc. The treasurer's office and the president's 
office were both in the same room. The treasurer's 
office was used for selling books and stationery, 
keeping accounts, post-office, and everything con- 
nected with the superintendent's office. The presi- 
dent, Joseph Moore, had his office and little desk 
in one comer by the old clock, and what made it 
still more disagreeable, this building was in very 
poor repair. The heating apparatus had given out, 
the cooking and laundry department had to be torn 
down and rebuilt, barns and stables had to be 
repaired. After dinner I walked around and looked 
the situation over and then went out in the boys' 
grove and found an old log back in the far comer, 
and sat down, and for more than one hour, medi- 
tated. I have never told anyone my feelings, and 
I will not try to do it now, yet they are very vivid. 
But I am alive, and the scene has changed. 

Now, as I sit at my desk, I can look out and see 
six new buildings, which have cost, with their 
furnishings, something over $200,000. The endow- 
ment fund, which was then a little over $50,000, is 
now nearly $340,000. The number of students in 
all departments the year before I came was 196, 48 
of whom were college students and 148 in the pre- 
paratory department. This last year we have had 
525 enrolled in all departments, including music, 
and have no preparatory department at all. But it 
is just to say that the trustees had decided that 
something would have to be done towards improve- 
ment in and around the buildings, and they had 
selected that grand old man of Earlham, Walter T. 
Carpenter, to assist me in carrying out the plans and 



324 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

improvements proposed. Walter T. Carpenter had 
been superintendent at Earlham College some four- 
teen years in all, having been there at three different ' 
periods. At times when the college was in a close 
place financially he went in and gave it a start again. 
I hope some pen better than mine will say the right 
thing in his memory some day. He still lives, in 
his ninety-ninth year, and is loyal to Earlham. 
Let others be false who will, his is always a word of 
cheer to those who are bearing the burdens to-day. 
Such a man is a tower of strength. We went for- 
ward with the improvements, he taking the lead and 
I following with a good, hearty will. We put in an 
entirely new heating plant, building a new cooking 
and laundry building and boiler house; we divided 
the large sleeping rooms up into rooms for two 
students in each, and arranged for the students to 
have their trunks upstairs, rather than in the base- 
ment, where they had been in the habit of going to 
wash and dress. We made changes all through the 
entire building, and made additions to the bam and 
stables. It was a pleasant autumn, so that we were 
able to complete the work before cold weather set in. 
This work done, the trustees selected Nathan 
Pickett to go over the financial accounts with 
us and see where we were. We sat down, and 
one night about midnight, when we had finished 
our accounts, found that we were $27,000 in debt 
and only had $1,000 subscribed to pay it with. 
When we had finished our figuring, dear Nathan 
Pickett, who recently passed away at the age of 91 
years, said: "What shall we do?" After a little 
silence Walter T. Carpenter spoke in his positive 
way and said: "Allen Jay must go out and get it. " 



EARLHAM COLLEGE 325 

During the next few months I went among the 
meetings and the homes of Friends in Indiana and 
Western Yearly Meetings, when I could leave the 
college, and before next commencement day it was 
all subscribed and nearly all paid in. 

Thus I have given a short synopsis of the condi- 
tions of Earlham at the time of the college com- 
mencement in the summer of 1881. And now, 
taking into consideration the impression that Earl- 
ham College has made upon the Society, and the 
positions its students have occupied and are occupy- 
ing to-day in the various yearly meetings, and the 
positions they are taking in religious, moral and 
educational spheres, I have felt it might be the 
proper thing to pause and give a little historical 
sketch of the origin and growth of the college up to 
the present time, as such a history has never been 
prepared. 



Chapter XXXVII 

THE FOUNDING OF EARLHAM COLLEGE 

In 1832 Whitewater Quarterly Meeting, in its 
report to Indiana Yearly Meeting, stated that it had 
for some time had the subject of a boarding-school at 
Whitewater imder its consideration, and had united 
in laying it before the yearly meeting. The matter 
was referred to a large committee, which reported 
favorably on the subject and proposed that " a com- 
mittee of men Friends be appointed to receive con- 
tributions from such benevolent individuals as may 
be disposed to help in the concern by donations or 
legacies, and with a view to keep alive and increase 
the interest therein, and that any contribution 
which may be made by them be so managed as to 
continue to accumulate, and while we desire not to 
press forward more speedily than our resources will 
admit, we think the mind of Friends will become 
more and more prepared for it as our information 
advances and means increase, so that in the course of 
a very few years an institution so desirable may be 
brought into operation; and in order to extend the 
concern as much as practicable, we propose that the 
yearly meeting recommend the subject to the 
attention of the subordinate meetings to endeavor 
to promote within their respective limits a lively 
interest in the concern and contributions of funds 
to carry it into operation. " This report was delib- 
erately read and considered, was united with by the 

(326) 



FOUNDING OF EARLHAM 327 

meeting, and the subject was directed to the subordi- 
nate meetings as proposed. A committee was 
appointed to receive contributions for the boarding- 
school, and the incorporation of such an institution 
was referred to the meeting for sufferings. 

The above is the first record made on the 
subject. It was the beginning of what is now 
Earlham College. In 1833 this committee reported 
that they had received $137. In 1834 they 
reported $11.50 received; in 1835 they reported 
nothing received; in 1836 they reported $7.00 
received. Some additions were made to the 
committee this year, and the quarterly meetings 
were recommended to open free subscriptions for 
the promotion of the concern. Another committee 
was also appointed to propose to the next yearly 
meeting a plan and regulations for the contemplated 
boarding-school. In 1837 the committee on plans 
and regulations reported: "We are imited in senti- 
ment that the location of the school proposed within 
our limits shall be on the farm belonging to the 
yearly meeting. In reference to the building, it is 
the opinion of the committee that males and females 
may both be instructed in the same building, as at 
Providence, Westtown, and New Garden; that a 
house and the requisite buildings suitable for the 
accommodation of 300 scholars should be erected, 
the cost of which may be about $16,000. It is pro- 
posed that the length of the house be 150 feet and 
the width 50 feet. " The minute made on the occa- 
sion says: *'The report, being read, was united with 
and adopted by this meeting, and the subordinate 
meetings are affectionately encouraged to raise the 
amount proposed in the report by volimtary 



328 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

subscription, and report to the next yearly 
meeting." 

In 1838 the quarterly meeting reported that 
$5,640.65 had been subscribed. The committee 
reported that they had 713,000 bricks, burned at a 
cost of $2,189, and "they are considered of a good 
quality. " They had also contracted for a sufficient 
amount of lumber, but the contract had not been 
entirely fulfilled. This year the yearly meeting 
made a plea to what it was pleased to term "the 
middle class, as respects their circumstances in 
outward affairs." "It is from this class that we 
have oiu* main expectation in regard to the funds 
for this institution. Leave out these and we cannot 
succeed. But let them contribute their $5, their 
$10 or their $20 per annum for three or four years, 
and our funds will be abundant. That this class is 
able, without the least oppression, so to contribute 
we have not the least doubt. It would be ingrati- 
tude to undervalue our blessings and to permit a 
sordid, worldly spirit and the love of gain to prevent 
the exercise of that Christian liberality which should 
distinguish the members of our religious society." 

As we continue to follow the history of raising 
money to build and complete the boarding-school 
that Indiana Yearly Meeting had now on hand, 
we are impressed with the long and continued effort 
required to succeed, and learn that it finally became 
necessary to complete a portion of it and begin the 
school, waiting for some time before finishing the 
entire building. In order to judge our Friends of 
that day correctly, it is but right to take into con- 
sideration the long-depressed condition of money 
affairs which followed the great panic of 1837, which 



FOUNDING OF EARLHAM 329 

became a potent factor not only for one year, but for 
several years. There was plenty of produce in the 
land, and the Friends, who were mostly an agricul- 
tural people, depending almost entirely on the 
production of their farms and home-made manu- 
factures, lived in a comfortable condition, and as 
land had greatly advanced in value, might be said to 
be in prosperous circumstances; but many of them 
had contracted debts in the preceding years of 
speculation, and now the small amount of money 
in circulation, the low price of all farm produce and 
the expense of getting it to market all combined to 
make it very difficult for them to raise sufficient 
money to pay their debts, taxes and their small 
necessary money expenses for living. The pros- 
perous farmer who wished a better coat than one of 
home-made stuff for his son just reaching manhood 
could not get the material for it for less than 100 
bushels of oats or com, after the expense of hauling 
it to market. Pork that in the fall of 1836 sold for 
$7;oo per 100 pounds, in the year that followed 
would bring but $2.00 per 100 after being made into 
bacon. An illustrative anecdote of these times used 
to be told of a man who was watching his pile of 
bacon on the wharf at New Orleans, whither he had 
conveyed it in a fiat-bottomed boat, when a wag 
passing by told him he need not watch it as there 
was no danger of its being stolen. "Oh," said the 
man, " I am not afraid of that. I am only afraid 
some one will put more to it. " I remember hearin<,^ 
my grandmother say that in the autumn of 1836, 
when pork was so high, a number of Friends had 
driven their hogs to market one day and sold them 
at $7.00 per 100. The next day a traveling Friend 



330 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

had a meeting appointed at Randolph Meeting- 
house. After the congregation had sat in silence 
for some time, this dear Friend rose with great 
solemnity and broke the silence by saying: "Pork 
is worth $7.00 per 100." This he repeated three 
times with impressiveness, after which, taking it 
for a text, he preached a long and searching sermon. 

In 1839 the committee said that they had con- 
tracted for the digging and walling of the cellar, 
and a committee of 49 men Friends was appointed 
to collect subscriptions during the year. They 
reported next year that $291.75 had been secured. 
In 1840 the building committee reported the founda- 
tion was completed, and a committee was appointed 
to consider the propriety of adopting a manual labor 
system for the government of the school. In 1841 
the committee reported in favor of adopting that 
system for the management of the school, but the 
meeting was not ready to accept the proposition, 
but appointed a large committee to take the matter 
imder consideration, and if they thought best, digest 
a plan for carrying it on in that way, and report 
next year. The boarding-school committee this 
year proposed that the west wing be completed, 
which would be about two-fifths of the whole, and 
wotdd accommodate from 50 to 70 students. 

As the demand for such a school was so 
urgent, the meeting directed them to go forward 
with this portion of the building. In 1842 the com- 
mittee on a manual labor system reported that they 
were not prepared to propose any plan, but urged 
the importance of getting the school started and 
advised leaving the details to be worked out as time 
advanced. This appears to have been the end of 



FOUNDING OF EARLHAM 331 

the proposed manual labor system. There had been 
formed previous to this a Young Friends Associa- 
tion, the object of which was to assist in raising funds 
and help in starting the institution. They reported 
this year $555, and they continued after this to 
help in various ways to advance the work. In 1 843 
the building committee of the boarding-school 
reported that no progress whatever had been made 
with the building for the want of funds. In 1844 
the report of the building committee was not encour- 
aging, but the matter was continued, and in 1845 the 
report showed that they had received $1,343.09, and 
a subscription of $566 was taken in the meeting. 

The meeting was united in directing the com- 
mittee to proceed with the work and propose to 
next yearly meeting a plan for putting the 
school into operation. In 1846 the committee 
reported they had contracted with John B. Posey 
to finish the part now up for $3,300, he to use 
the raw material on hand, and the following 
plan was proposed for the opening of the school: 
" The principal features of the plan for the boarding- 
school which were submitted and agreed to were 
to have the school open about the ist of Fourth 
month, 1847; that $1,500 be used to provide the 
school with necessary articles for use; that the 
yearly meeting appoint a general boarding-school 
committee of men and women Friends, some from 
each quarterly meeting, to have general charge of 
the school; that the general committee appoint an 
acting committee of suitable men and women Friends 
from their own members to visit, to provide officers 
for, and to have at all times charge and oversight of 
the school ; that the acting committee report to the 



33 2 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

general committee, and the general committee to the 
yearly meeting each year." Both sexes were to be 
admitted. The teachers and scholars were to be 
members of our religious Society and to conform to 
plainness of dress and language, and meetings for 
worship to be held on First and Fifth-days of each 
week in the school, under the care of the acting 
committee. A general boarding-school committee 
was appointed, consisting of 62 men and 47 women, 
their names having been brought in by a nominating 
committee. The general boarding-school com- 
mittee in 1847 reported that the school was opened 
early in Seventh month, under Cornelius Douglas 
and wife as superintendents, and Lewis A. Estes 
and Huldah C. Hoag as teachers, and continued 
fifteen weeks with an average attendance of about 
36 scholars. It was proposed to divide the scholastic 
year into two terms of twenty-three weeks each, the 
winter term to begin just after yearly meeting and 
close about the middle of Third month, and the 
summer term to immediately succeed it and close 
the latter part of Eighth month. The expense for 
board and tuition was to be $70 per year, or $35 per 
term. In 1848 the general boarding-school com- 
mittee reported to the yearly meeting that they had 
received an additional donation from Friends in 
England of $491 .1 1 ; from women Friends of Indiana 
Yearly Meeting, $5.57; and from the quarterly 
meeting, $542.08, which with the balance from the 
previous year, made $1,301.08. 

Dviring 1848 the school made satisfactory pro- 
gress under Barnabas C. Hobbs and wife as superin- 
tendents, and Lewis A. and Huldah C. Estes as 
teachers, and averaged about 75 scholars. They 



FOUNDING OF EARLHAM sss 

also proposed that the midweek meeting at the 
school be omitted the week of preparative meeting 
and of monthly meeting. The committee was 
enlarged by the addition of five men and four women, 
making the whole number ii8. Ini85ia proposi- 
tion was made to build a house for a teacher, which 
was united with, the house not to cost over $600. 
In 1852 the proposition was made to appoint a 
special boarding-school committee, which would have 
the special care and oversight of the institution, 
consisting of 12 men and 12 women, and the proposi- 
tion was made to try to raise $16,000 to finish the 
main building. In 1854 the building committee 
reported it had entered into contract with John B. 
Posey for the putting up and finishing of all the 
unfinished portions of the building for the sum of 
$19,445. In 1855 the proposition was made to sell 
off some lots of the meeting-house groimd and also 
to sell and appropriate to it that part of the school 
farm lying north of the timipike road, together 
with such other portions of the land as could be 
spared, and pay off all the indebtedness of the insti- 
tution, finish the building and furnish it as above 
estimated. This report was very fully united with 
by the meeting, and the trustees of the boarding- 
school farm and land were authorized to make the 
sale and apply the proceeds as recommended. 

Without going into further detail, it may be 
sufficient to say that from year to year the building 
committee and the boarding-school committee con- 
tinued to report progress, and the subordinate 
meetings were encouraged to raise money to carry 
on the work. In 1857 the yearly meeting directed 
the trustees to sell the land on the north side of the 



334 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

turnpike road and apply the proceeds to paying the 
debt. We find the whole amount of money ex- 
pended while it was a boarding-school and before it 
became a college was $73,639.04, as nearly as can 
be obtained from the minutes of the yearly meeting. 
The entire building was completed in 1855. 

The following proposition was received from the 
committee at the yearly meeting in 1859 : "In order 
to enable the institution to meet more fully the 
wants of many students, both yoimg men and young 
women, who are looking to it for a complete educa- 
tion and desire to obtain college advantages without 
going to institutions outside our Society, the com- 
mittee have, after much consideration, adopted 
regulations establishing a faculty and authorizing, 
with the approbation of the yearly meeting, the 
granting of regular college degrees (excepting all 
unnecessary forms and ceremony which we do not 
approve) to such students as go through either the 
college or scientific course, and the issue of diplomas 
properly executed. We propose that the name of 
Earlham College be adopted as the future name of 
the school. " The minute made by the clerk of the 
yearly meeting with reference to the report of the 
boarding-school committee on this occasion says it 
"has been read and is satisfactory to the meeting 
and the new regulations proposed by the committee 
are adopted." So the Friends Boarding-school 
became Earlham College Tenth month i, 1859. 

Financial History of Earlham College 

Having given a hasty review of the history and 
struggles of the Friends Boarding school financially 
imtil it became Earlham College, I will leave the 



FOUNDING OF EARLHAM 335 

financial growth and development from that time to 
this for other pens to write down, after simply- 
adding that the same struggle has been continued all 
these years. The first permanent endowment fund 
was raised in 1870 and 187 1, our late friend, Charles 
S. Hubbard, giving much time and effort in the 
matter, and being assisted more or less by Joseph 
Moore. In 1872 the report to the yearly meeting 
stated that the amount of subscriptions was $50,000, 
which added to that previously raised made $53,000, 
and steps were taken to collect the same and have it 
placed on interest. In 1887, after much labor, funds 
were secured for erecting Lindley Hall and Parry 
Hall, the former as a recitation hall and the latter 
to accommodate the chemical laboratory. Several 
years later funds were solicited and the present 
gymnasium erected and Reid Field secured for 
athletics. During the spring of 1907 funds were 
secured for erecting Bundy Dormitory Building for 
boys, Zenas Bundy and wife giving $25,000 on con- 
dition that the college secure that much more and 
put up a $50,000 building. Thirty thousand dollars 
was also secured from Andrew Carnegie towards 
putting up a library building on condition that the 
college raise a similar amount, the interest of which 
was to be used in the upkeep of the library. 
These buildings were completed ready to be occu- 
pied in the autumn of 1907. These additions to 
the college buildings made it necessary to erect an 
additional heating plant, which was done in the 
autumn of 1907 at an initial cost of $20,000. Dur- 
ing these years also the endowment fund has been 
increased to $340,000 through the efforts of the 
friends of the college, and the school has increased 



336 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

in numbers so rapidly that at the present time all 
available space is occupied. 

Leaving now the financial side of the college and 
its equipment, I will review the share it has taken 
in educational and religious work and show its in- 
fluence on the Church and the world. 



Chapter XXXVIII 

EDUCATIONAL AND RELIGIOUS 
INFLUENCE OF EARLHAM 

We have seen that the beginning of Earlham 
was a religious concern for an institution where the 
young Friends could have a guarded and religious 
education. This deep-seated concern had enabled 
them to overcome all opposition, and now at the 
opening it was meet that they should read a psalm 
of rejoicing in which they gave God all the praise for 
what He had wrought. As we look back from our 
present standpoint we are impressed with the 
thought that our fathers built better than they 
knew. The hand of their God had been good upon 
them, and their labors had brought forth a rich 
harvest of blessing to the Church and to the 
world. 

He who takes a list of those who have been at the 
boarding-school and at Earlham College and traces 
their lives and marks their influence in the Church 
must be at once impressed with the wisdom of those 
who builded for the future of the Church. Indeed, 
the student of history must see that no Church will 
live long or impress itself upon the world that does 
not have its educational institutions, and in propor- 
tion as these institutions are strong educationally 
and religiously will that influence be felt. As I have 
said before, it is when the head and the heart are 
trained together that the greatest and truest results 

22 (337) 



338 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

will be seen. This, I believe, is what Earlham has 
stood for in the past and is striving for at the present 
time even to a greater degree. I trust that there is 
no disposition on the part of those who have the care 
of Earlham to boast and, above all, to compare her 
with other Friends institutions or try to build her 
up by pulling others down. If she cannot live on 
her own merits, she had better die. In all my pleas 
for funds or students for Earlham I have never felt 
at liberty to speak imkindly of other Friends col- 
leges. Let her records speak for her. The church 
or college that boasts of its merit by finding fault 
with others and boasting of its superiority over 
sister churches or colleges in educational or religious 
lines is on the way to its own downfall. I know all 
the colleges among Friends in this country; they 
all have their good qualities and all have God-fearing 
men and women in their faculties who are doing 
God's work in training the young men and women 
for the work that is before them. So, while I review 
a little of the influence that Earlham has had in the 
educational and religious world, it is with no feeling 
of boasting, but of thankfulness for what God has 
helped her to do, and with a desire to encourage her 
sister colleges to go forward with their good work, 
that they, together with Earlham, may labor and 
make the Quaker Church what it should be to meet 
the demands which will be made upon it during the 
twentieth century. 

Talking several years ago with a president of one 
of the denominational colleges of our State, he 
remarked that the "teachers that come from Earl- 
ham graduates stand high among our schools. They 
do good work educationally and their moral and 



INFLUENCE OF EARLHAM 339 

religious influence is good." From the statistics it 
appears that a larger percentage of the graduates 
have entered the profession of teaching in the past 
than of some other institutions, and perhaps as 
larger percentage do so at the present time. The 
explanation of this may lie in the fact that they were 
trained to a religious feeling that it was their duty 
to do what they could for the good of the Church 
and the world, and that the calling of a teacher was 
the open door to directly influencing the world for 
good. 

The need of an education for a minister, 
missionary or any other direct worker in the Chris- 
tian field was not so apparent then as it is to-day. 
Now, however, they are entering a greater variety 
of fields of usefulness. It is more and more felt 
that to fill any position in the Church or State 
requires our best. To be a farmer, a good business 
man, or a useful citizen of any kind, one needs a 
well-trained mind. Consequently more of our col- 
lege graduates are now found in these various 
avenues of usefulness. In a previous chapter 
reference was made to a religious awakening which 
took place in the summer of 1865. One who took 
an active part in this spiritual awakening, and who 
is still living, has given the following information: 
" It was so pronounced among the students that a 
concern originated among the students themselves 
to hold a prayer meeting. It was decided to lay the 
matter before Walter T. Carpenter, who at that time 
was superintendent. He gave his consent, and 
manifested his interest by being present when he 
could. They had some remarkable meetings. At 
times several would take part, and much tenderness 



340 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

was manifested. Indeed, a revival spirit broke 
out in the school, especially among the young men. 
These young men, upon their returning to their 
homes, carried the spirit of religious awakening 
with them into home meetings, and may have had 
much to do with the revival that took place about 
that time in various centers throughout the Society 
here in the West." The prayer meeting started at 
that time has never been laid down. From that day 
to this it has been kept up through all the years 
when the college was in session. Many of the old 
students have come to remember the *' Earlham 
prayer meeting" as being the time and place where 
they received a spiritual blessing. The boys now 
have their meeting in Bundy Hall on Fifth-day 
evening, and the girls have theirs in Earlham Hall 
at the same time. On First-day evening they all 
meet together in the association room in Earlham 
Hall. In addition to these, during the series of 
special meetings which are held in both halls during 
the winter term of each year, "floor prayer meet- 
ings ' ' are held for five or ten minutes each day, each 
of these meetings including only the students who 
are grouped on one floor or one hall of the building. 
I have never found more satisfactory prayer meet- 
ings, among all those I have attended, than those at 
Earlham College on First-day evening, that had 
their origin in 1865 in one of the rooms of Earlham 
Hall. 

I wish to describe the manner of conducting 
them. They are under the care of a joint committee 
of the Young Men's and Young Women's Christian 
Associations, the chairman of which is usually a 
senior. This committee selects a leader for each 



INFLUENCE OF EARLHAM 341 

evening. This leader takes his or her position at 
the table in front of the meeting, generally calls for 
a hymn, and then reads a portion of Scripture bear- 
ing upon the subject that he wishes to bring before 
the meeting. This is usually followed by a season 
of prayer at the commencement in which all drop 
into silence. No one is called upon, but each one is 
left to engage in vocal prayer as he may feel led. 
This generally lasts for several minutes, during which 
very often twenty or more are heard in vocal prayer. 
When the season of prayer is over the leader then 
speaks on the subject that impresses his mind for 
about ten minutes, after which another hymn is 
sung and the meeting is again thrown open for each 
one to take such part in prayer, testimony or song 
as he may feel called upon to do. No one is urged 
and no one named, but it is conducted as a real 
Quaker meeting. During this time generally a 
number are heard from, and occasionally one comes 
out who has never spoken before. It is good for 
those of us who are older to go in and sit among 
these young people and feel that the Spirit is leading 
them in their devotional exercises and that God is in 
their midst. 

As a result of this religious atmosphere in the 
institution there are a number of volunteer Bible 
classes, both among the girls and among the boys, 
which are kept up throughout the year. There is 
also a branch of the student voliuiteer organization 
for foreign missionary work which includes several 
of the students, both boys and girls, and there are 
several mission study classes along general lines of 
mission work which meet weekly. 

Some two years ago Professor Murray Ken- 



342 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

worthy, of the Biblical department of Earlham Col- 
lege, collected some facts relating to the religious life 
of the Church and college, extracts from which were 
printed in the Earlham College Bulletin of Novem- 
ber, 1907, and which have been placed at my disposal 
for use. They are as follows; "It appears that 
in the twelve yearly meetings of Friends in this 
country there is on an average one minister to every 
69 members, while among the former students of 
Earlham College the proportion is one to every 40, 
and among the graduates of Earlham there is one 
minister to every 13 members of the alumni. From 
1885 to 1895 inclusive the total number of students 
enrolled in the Biblical department was 123. Dur- 
ing the years from 1896 to 1906 inclusive the total 
number was 479. During the last year, 1906-07, 
there were 34 ministers, prospective ministers and 
missionaries enrolled as students of the college. The 
following Earlham missionaries are and have been 
in the foreign field. In Mexico, 14; West Indies, 
2 ; Alaska, 4 ; among the Indians, 9 ; Japan, 7 ; China, 
5; Palestine, i: making a total of 42. The largest 
number from any other Friends college is 26. The 
total number of American missionaries in the field 
is 95, of whom a large percentage are former Earlham 
students. Even this, however, is not an adequate 
criterion of the religious life of the college, since 
these missionary statistics are confined exclusively 
to Friends, who have constituted for years an average 
of not much over 50 per cent, of the total enrollment 
of the college. We are thankful for the opportimity 
to make even a slight contribution to the progress 
of the Church of Jesus Christ. " The above figures 
do not include the records of the last two years, which 



INFLUENCE OF EARLHAM 343 

would increase the members both in Earlham and 
in other institutions. 

The above facts are given with a feehng of thank- 
fulness to our Heavenly Father for his blessings upon 
Earlham, and with a prayer that He may continue 
to bless her and all her sister colleges among Friends. 



Chapter XXXIX 

FILLING VARIOUS OFFICES AT EARLHAM 

The six years during which I held the position of 
superintendent and treasurer of Earlham College 
were active years, calling for much labor and activity 
to meet the demands. Many changes were made, not 
only in the buildings, but also in the working of the 
institution and in its internal management. Among 
these was the changing of school rooms into dormi- 
tory rooms, in each of which two students studied 
and slept. Instead of all the girls studying in one 
school room under the care of an officer, and all 
the boys at the other end of the building under simi- 
lar care, they now did this studying in their own 
rooms, which was productive of much good. An- 
other move, which was made with considerable tre- 
pidation on the part of those who had long had the 
care of the institution, was permitting the scholars to 
have their trunks taken to their rooms on the various 
floors in place of having them all in the basement 
where they had to go to wash and dress. Hot and 
cold water was introduced on each floor, and bath- 
rooms were put in for those living in Earlham Hall. 
A small organ was placed in the superintendent's 
parlor, and the practice of allowing students to meet 
and play the instruments and sing Gospel hymns for 
one hour on First-day afternoon was introduced — 
a practice that has been kept up all the years since 
to the help and benefit of many of the young people 

(344) 



OFFICES AT EARLHAM 345 

in cultivating their gift of singing, which has added 
comfort and refinement in many homes to which 
these people belonged. This was before a music 
teacher was employed and the study of vocal and 
instrumental music introduced into the college. 
More opportunity was granted the young men and 
women to walk together at proper times and within 
proper bounds, and other social privileges were 
granted that have had the tendency to make the 
government of the institution easier and much more 
pleasant by removing much of the friction that ex- 
isted under the old regime. 

While my wife and I were looking after these 
things, I found time to visit all the quarterly meet- 
ings in the limits of Indiana and Western Yearly 
Meetings and those of some other yearly meetings, 
soliciting funds for building and endowment. I 
also visited many homes and private individuals in 
various portions of our country, from Maine to the 
far West. This was especially laborious work and 
added much to my cares. In 1885 the college found 
itself with a heavy debt resting upon it, originating 
from various improvements made and other sources, 
and the trustees were anxious for me to go to Eng- 
land and Ireland to solicit funds. Our Friends on 
that side of the water had taken an interest in the 
early history of Earlham, and, as we have already 
seen, manifested it at times in giving of their means. 
So in the summer of 1885 I went over and spent 
three months in going among the dear Friends of 
London and Dublin Yearly Meetings. My work 
was mostly done privately, although I attended the 
yearly meeting and a few of the quarterly meetings 
and several other meetings. I did not feel at liberty 



346 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

to speak of my mission publicly except to answer 
such questions as might be asked and to give such 
information as was desired. The trustees, in their 
report to the yearly meeting in that year, make the 
following allusion to this visit: "At our request 
Allen Jay visited England in order to present to our 
Friends there the educational interests of Friends in 
America, not so much with a view to receiving pres- 
ent contributions as to impart definite information 
which might in the future result in larger additions to 
our endowment fund. He was very kindly received 
by our English Friends, who unexpectedly invited 
him to address London Yearly Meeting upon educa- 
tional matters in this coim.try. He subsequently 
attended several of the quarterly meetings, in some 
of which he was requested to speak on our educa- 
tional affairs and, as shown in his report, a consid- 
erable amount of money was subscribed to promote 
the educational interest of Earlham, which is very 
valuable to our material prosperity. From informa- 
tion received by some of our board through private 
correspondence, we believe his visit was opportim.e. " 
Friends received me kindly and gave an amount 
sufficient to wipe out the debt and to add a few 
thousand dollars to our endowment fund, for which 
the college authorities were thankful. But I wish 
to say here that my acquaintance with English and 
Irish Friends and the great work they are doing 
in home and foreign mission work, educational and 
general philanthropic work at home and abroad, 
has led me to the conclusion that the time has come 
when Friends in America should cease calling upon 
those in England for financial aid in carrying on the 
work we are engaged in in our own land. It was 



OFFICES AT EARLHAM 347 

all right when our country was new and our Friends 
were largely farmers, clearing their land and labor- 
ing to get a start in the financial world, for our Eng- 
lish brethren to assist in building meeting-houses 
and starting schools, to give of their abundant means 
to help us in this country to lay the foundation for 
the work that was resting upon us. But has not the 
time now come for us freely to use our own means? 
I think so, except in rare cases or special circum- 
stances that may occasionally come up out of the 
ordinary course of events. 

Another phase of the work at Earlham which I 
have already alluded to became regular while I was 
superintendent. Each year we held special religious 
services for all those who made their home in Earl- 
ham Hall. It was a privilege to take an active part 
in providing fqr this work and to take a leading 
part in carrying it forward. The meetings were 
productive of much good, and many date the begin- 
ning of their Christian life to these special meetings. 
The most remarkable of these was the series held in 
the winter of 1885. The meetings were held imme- 
diately after supper and before study hours com- 
menced. Then those who desired to remain could do 
so for a while, when they were more definitely encour- 
aged to decide for the Master. Some idea of the 
result of this effort may be gained from the follow- 
ing extract taken from President J. J. Mills' report 
to the yearly meeting at the close of that school year : 
" Probably no former year in the history of the 
college has been characterized by greater religious 
interest than has the year just passed. From the 
opening of the school year it was comparatively 
rare for a meeting for worship to close without one or 



348 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

more testimonies from students to the power of 
Christ in their hearts. In the students ' prayer meet- 
ings the spiritual awakening was even more earnest, 
resulting in numerous professions of conversion. 
Before the close of the winter term all but about 
fifteen of the large number of students in attend- 
ance had professed faith in Jesus Christ. The new 
converts as a rule remained firm until they left for 
their homes at the close of the college year. All of 
the senior class left their alma mater to enter upon 
their life work as earnest, consecrated men and 
women." 

In 1884 a special course of study was organized 
for the benefit of ministers, Bible school teachers and 
other Christian workers which was the beginning of 
what now is the Biblical department of instruction 
at Earlham College. The establishment of this 
special course was an attempt to meet what was 
believed to be a need of the Society of Friends in 
this day of rapid development of evangelistic, pas- 
toral, Bible school and missionary work. 

On account of my wife's failing health her 
strength was not sufficient for the duties devolving 
upon her as matron, and we felt it to be right to 
resign our positions and retire to our home near the 
college. 

Solicitor for Earlham 

We left Earlham on account of the failing 
strength of my dear wife. The trustees had entered 
into an arrangement with me to give much of my 
time to soliciting fimids to build and equip two build- 
ings, which are now called Parry Science Hall and 
Lindley Hall. The former received its name from 



OFFICES AT EARLHAM 349 

Mordecai Parry because this friend had agreed 
to give $5,000 for its erection. The latter was 
called Lindley Hall from the fact that Dr. 
Alfred Lindley and his wife, Eliza H. Lindley, gave 
$10,000 towards the building. I have no desire to 
enter into any detailed account of the soliciting I did 
during the next few years. It is done, and the re- 
sults speak for themselves. We can only say that 
greater funds had been secured both for building and 
endowment fund. Those who have not passed 
through similar experiences will not realize what a 
drain it makes upon the mental and physical life 
to go from meeting to meeting, home to home, and 
individual to individual, persuading them to give 
of their means to religious and educational work. 
Some of those experiences are pleasant to look back 
upon. Others are not. One instance of the former 
kind I will mention. While at Friends Boarding- 
school, Providence, a dear Friend living near Fall 
River, Massachusetts, gave $1,500 to help that insti- 
tution. Thinking the matter over one day, I said 
to my wife : *' I am going to see Sarah Blade and ask 
her to give me as much for Earlham College as she 
gave to Friends Boarding-school." Next day I 
started. When I reached her home they were pre- 
paring to go to meeting that night. After supper 
she asked if I would go with them to meeting. I 
told her I would, but that I would like to lay my 
business before her before going. I called her 
attention to what she had done for the boarding- 
school, told her what we were trying to do at Earl- 
ham College, and in about fifteen or twenty minutes 
laid the whole subject before her. She turned to the 
friend having charge of her account and asked if 



3 so AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

there were money enough on hand to pay that 
amount. He replied that there was. She added: 
"Give Allen Jay a check for that amoimt and we 
will go to meeting. " The next morning I was ready 
to return home. 

It was not always so. I remember another 
time going to Massachusetts to see a man whom 
I hoped to interest in Earlham. That was a 
failure. He did not give anything. After years of 
soliciting funds I am convinced that a large amount 
of the money given for benevolent work comes from 
what may be termed the middle class — those who are 
neither rich nor poor. I am glad to say that there are 
some noble exceptions to this rule. If a man has 
been prospered and has made money by saving, but 
has lived to be fifty years old without learning to give, 
he rarely gives much. He may possibly give it in 
his will, when he can no longer hold it. It is a cause 
for thankfulness that we are now training the 
children to give in our Bible schools, Christian 
Endeavor and missionary societies, and in some 
places in the Church also. When church members 
give on the first day of the week according as the 
Lord has prospered them, then there will be money 
to carry on Christian, educational and philanthropic 
work. Then the occasions for public appeals will be 
more rare and be confined to special work and special 
occasions: While the work had its unpleasant fea- 
tures, it had also its pleasant side. It opened the 
way for me to go into many Friends homes and be- 
come acquainted with them and with their children, 
which resulted not only in my obtaining financial 
help, but also in increasing the nimiber of students in 
the college. Looking back over those years, we see 



OFFICES AT EARLHAM 351 

that the number in attendance has increased. The 
growth has been in proportion to the work done. 

Religious Visits 

In addition to this I often obtained minutes from 
my meeting Hberating me for reHgious service in 
the monthly, quarterly or yearly meeting where I 
went. In this way I visited most of the quarterly 
meetings in Indiana, Western, Ohio and Wilmington 
Yearly Meetings, besides many of the other meetings, 
and up to 1898 I attended all the yearly meetings 
in the United States and Canada with which we held 
epistolary correspondence, and several of them a 
number of times, my wife going with me on a number 
of these visits. I attended the opening of Wilming- 
ton Yearly Meeting, and in 1895 the opening of 
California Yearly Meeting as a delegate from Indi- 
ana Yearly Meeting, the other delegate being our 
late friend, Mary A. Goddard. Others have written 
of the setting up of California Yearly Meeting, so I 
pass it by, simply saying that it was a satisfactory 
occasion and I believe it was opened in the ordering 
of our Heavenly Father. My wife being with me on 
this occasion, we held series of meetings in a number 
of the meetings composing California and Oregon 
Yearly Meetings. We returned home by way of 
Oregon and attended that yearly meeting, which had 
been opened two years previously. These two new 
yearly meetings on the Pacific coast are occupying 
important positions in regard to the future welfare 
of our Church, especially along our western coast. 
Whittier and Pacific Colleges should claim a special 
interest and sympathy, for the welfare of Califor- 
nia and Oregon Yearly Meetings largely depends 



352 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

upon the maintenance and success of these two 
colleges. 

Superintendent of the Evangelistic and Pastoral 
Committee of Indiana Yearly Meeting 

Besides the above claims upon my time, I was a 
member of the evangelistic and pastoral committee, 
a member of the executive committee of the Peace 
Association of Friends in America, also a member 
of the associated executive committee on Indian 
affairs, all of which demanded more or less of my 
attention. Especially was this the case during the 
six years in which I acted as superintendent of 
evangelistic and pastoral work of Indiana Yearly 
Meeting. This was an opportunity that opened a 
wide door for great usefulness. The evangelistic 
and pastoral committee was appointed twenty-eight 
years ago by Indiana Yearly Meeting. It has done 
much towards strengthening the yearly meeting. Its 
duties are to superintend evangelistic work, look 
after pastoral work and enter in and possess new 
territory that may present a promising field. It was 
first called the committee on the ministry, then the 
evangelistic and pastoral committee, but now is 
known as the evangelistic, pastoral and Church ex- 
tension committee. It is necessary for this commit- 
tee to be acquainted with the different meetings and 
the different workers, and to be able to help locate 
the pastors and evangelists, and have a general super- 
intendence of the work and the workers. It has 
never been the policy of the committee to dictate who 
should go to certain meetings to act as pastors, but 
where a meeting desired the assistance of a resident 
minister, to introduce them to each other and then 



OFFICES AT EARLHAM 353 

let them decide between themselves as to the call 
being of the Lord. In the evangelistic work it was 
highly important that the one who went to the field 
was able to do the work required in that particular 
place. 

It has been of great importance to be able to 
prevent those who are introducing disturbing ele- 
ments, calculated to divide and scatter meetings, 
make contention and dissension, from coming into 
the limits of our yearly meeting. It has been the 
course of our committee to say but little about this 
class except when they came among us and actually 
produced trouble by their wild and extreme hobbies 
and fanatical doctrines. It is then their policy to 
quietly advise the closing of our meeting-house doors 
against them, Indiana Yearly Meeting having given 
this committee this power a few years ago in order to 
avoid this fruitful source of trouble. It is a cause 
for thankfulness that to-day in nearly every portion 
of Indiana Yearly Meeting love and harmony are 
prevailing, and the present prospect is that our next 
annual report will be one of the most satisfactory we 
have had in a number of years. It is a cause for 
thankfulness to have had the privilege of being so 
closely associated with the leading church workers 
and the vital interests of the Church's welfare both 
present and future ; to look back and see the changes 
that have taken place in the active work in the 
Church during the years we have lived and labored, 
and to feel at times that perhaps we have added our 
mite to the spreading of the Redeemer's kingdom in 
our day. But at such times it is safe to remember 
our infirmities, to bear in mind the language of Paul 
where he says: "Lest by any means when I have 



354 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

preached to others I myself should be a castaway. ** 
It is not our work for the Church nor our activities 
and zeal for the cause of Christ that save us and give 
us an inheritance with the saints in light, but faith 
in Christ. Here I am reminded of an incident in my 
hfe. 

In the year 1873, after visiting the meetings 
in Canada Yearly Meeting, on my way home I 
stopped and attended a general meeting held at Win- 
throp, Maine, in a tent located on the grounds of 
Moses Bailey, It was a wonderful meeting. The 
power of the Lord was manifested and many were 
converted. The meeting closed on First-day night. 
Our friends, Eli and Sybil Jones, attended the begin- 
ning of the meeting. Then Sybil Jones was taken 
dangerously ill, so much so that her friends almost 
despaired of her life. On Second-day morning, 
before leaving, I called to inquire how she was. She 
requested that I should come in, and pointed to a 
chair near where she lay propped up in bed. Her 
voice was weak. She referred to the wonderful 
reports she had heard of the meeting the day before, 
and then went on to say, as near as I can remember, 
something like this : " Yesterday I was on the border 
of the river, looking across. All looked bright and 
I began to rejoice that the life battles were over and 
that I had been faithful, but while reviewing the 
years spent in the Master's service and counting the 
sacrifices that I had made in His behalf, a cloud 
came over my vision and I exclaimed, 'Lord, what 
does this mean?' The answer came back, 'Not by 
works of righteousness thou hast done, but by my 
own precious blood have I saved thee. ' Immediately 
I looked to Jesus. Again all was joy and peace. " 



OFFICES AT EARLHAM 355 

Looking at me, she raised her finger and pointing it 
toward me slowly said, " Go, Allen Jay, but wherever 
thou goest in the world, preach salvation through 
the Lord Jesus Christ. Farewell." These were 
thp last words I ever heard her speak. She died not 
long afterwards. 



Chapter XL 
ORIGIN OF THE FIVE YEARS' MEETING 

A Brief Review of the Origin of the Five Tears* 

Meeting, the Preparation of the Declaration of 

Faith, and the Adoption of the Uniform 

Discipline 

In preparing this short history of these facts, I 
wish to acknowledge that I have drawn largely from 
a lecture given by Timothy Nicholson before the 
Christian Endeavor Society of Friends Church, 
Indianapolis, and later before the one at Fairmount, 
Indiana. I have also had access to all the published 
proceedings of the various quinquennial conferences 
and of the Five Years' Meeting up to date. In all 
ages of the Church, God has had men who, as some 
in the tribe of Issachar in David's time, have had 
luiderstanding of the signs of the times and knew 
what Israel ought to do. Such men have had ideals 
sometimes so far in advance that they have had to 
wait for the mass of the people to be educated up to 
the visions God had given them before it was safe 
to proclaim them. I have seen it stated that John 
Woolman said that he waited some years before he 
was at liberty to tell Philadelphia Yearly Meeting 
all he had seen of the evils of slavery and the posi- 
tion that God called that yearly meeting to take on 
that great issue. Perhaps Barnabas C. Hobbs, of 
Western Yearly Meeting, had understanding of the 

(3S6) 



FIVE YEARS' MEETING 357 

signs of the times when he wrote the proposition, an 
extract from which was sent to all the other yearly 
meetings in a postscript to Western Yearly Meeting's 
epistles in 1870. "This meeting has been intro- 
duced into a desire for a more perfect union among 
the different yearly meetings of Europe and America. 
There are many departments of Christian labor of 
common interest that call for united counsel. * * * 
We apprehend that a general council, composed of 
representatives appointed by the several yearly meet- 
ings, would have a harmonizing and unifying effect 
upon our common Society and render the whole and 
its parts more truly supportive of each other ; whose 
conclusions and recommendations shall only be 
advisory in their nature. Should this proposition 
meet with general approval, we would suggest that 
the first meeting be held in the State of New York, 
immediately after Canada Yearly Meeting, in 1872. " 
Indiana Yearly Meeting, which occurred the follow- 
ing week, referred this proposition to a committee 
to report in 187 1. The report was in substance that 
"the way did not open to accept the proposition at 
this time." 

Similar action was taken by several other yearly 
meetings. Therefore no general conference was 
held. Widely separated as American yearly meet- 
ings were, and there being no permanent bond of 
union between them except that of epistolary cor- 
respondence, there grew up a spirit of independence 
and neglect of co-operation. This independence on 
the part of certain prominent members in one or 
more yearly meetings was manifested in some of the 
epistolary correspondence. Differences of opinion 
in these epistles sometimes led to earnest exhorta- 



sss AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

tion, now and then bordering on criticism. This 
kind of correspondence was the basis of the prop- 
osition of Western Yearly Meeting in 1875. In that 
same year, 1875, Indiana Yearly Meeting adopted 
the following as the united judgment of the meet- 
ing: "We feel called upon at this time to reaffirm 
the views always held by Friends upon the subject 
of baptism and the supper. We believe that the 
baptism which essentially pertains to the present 
dispensation is that of Christ, who baptizes His 
people with the Holy Spirit, and that the true 
communion is a spiritual partaking of the body and 
blood of Christ. Therefore we believe it to be incon- 
sistent for any one to be acknowledged or retained 
in the position of minister or elder among us who 
continues to participate in or teach the necessity of 
the outward rite of baptism or of the supper. " 

Again, in 1885, the following minute was adopted 
by Indiana Yearly Meeting: " Having learned with 
sorrow that certain individuals holding the position 
of ministers of the gospel in one of the co-ordinate 
bodies of the Society of Friends have partaken of 
the rites of water baptism and of the bread and wine 
in the so-called communion of the Lord's Supper, 
some of whom have administered these rites to others 
and have been holding meetings within the limits of 
Indiana Yearly Meeting, and advocated publicly and 
privately their views, which are contrary to the testi- 
monies which the Society of Friends have always 
maintained as to the spiritual nature of Christ's 
Kingdom, and to the declaration of faith in our book 
of discipline, and to the united judgment of our 
yearly meeting in 1875 ; now in order to protect our 
membership from such influences and teaching, 



FIVE YEARS' MEETING 359 

all of our meetings are advised to refuse to receive as 
acceptable ministers of the gospel, whether members 
of other yearly meetings or of our own, those teach- 
ing doctrines or practicing rites contrary to the above 
declaration of faith and minute of the yearly meet- 
. ing. Their minute or certificates should not be read 
in our meetings, nor should meetings be appointed 
for them in our meeting-houses, nor should they be 
encouraged to labor within our borders. " 

For the foregoing reasons and some others, the 
concern of Western Yearly Meeting in 1870 and 
1875 was still a living concern with several of the 
leading Friends of Indiana and other yearly meet- 
ings. One evening during yearly meeting, in 1886, 
at the table of Timothy Nicholson were seated Wil- 
liam O. Newhall, of New England ; Mary Underhill, 
of New York; William L. Pearson, then of North 
Carolina; Barnabas C. Hobbs, of Western; Isom P. 
Wooton, of Iowa; and Francis W. Thomas, of 
Indiana Yearly Meeting. During the meal the host 
introduced the subject of a conference of delegates 
from all the yearly meetings. The matter was dis- 
cussed with much interest and with entire unanimity 
of judgment that the time had come for such a 
meeting, and Francis W. Thomas was requested to 
introduce the subject to the yearly meeting the next 
day. 

This was done, and the following minute was 
united with by the meeting : " The subject of a con- 
ference of committees from the different yearly 
meetings in America with which we correspond, 
having been introduced into this meeting, after 
deliberate consideration it was believed that the 
holding of such a conference to consider matters 



36o AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

pertaining to the welfare of our branch of the Church 
would strengthen the bond of Christian fellowship 
amongst us and tend to promote iinity in important 
matters of faith and practice in the different bodies 
into which Friends in a manner are divided. We 
are therefore imited in proposing to our sister yearly- 
meetings in America that such a conference be held, 
and that it be composed of delegates appointed by 
the different yearly meetings, its conclusions to be 
only advisory, but at least five yearly meetings must 
unite in it or the conference not be held. We also 
propose that such a conference he held next year, 
1887, in Richmond, Indiana, beginning on Sixth-day, 
following the close of Western Yearly Meeting, at 
9 A. M. " Then followed the names of twelve dele- 
gates. "And we further propose that a cordial 
invitation be extended to London and Dublin Yearly 
Meetings to send delegates to this conference. This 
minute is directed to be appended to the epistles to 
the different yearly meetings with which we cor- 
respond. " All the yearly meetings in the world 
with which we corresponded accepted the proposition 
of Indiana Yearly Meeting, and the conference was 
held at the time and place proposed. Those who had 
given the most thought to the conditions in our 
several yearly meetings, and who advocated the 
holding of such a conference, hoped that in this way 
one declaration of faith or Christian doctrine and one 
uniform discipline for all the American yearly meet- 
ings could be agreed upon, and that iiltimately the 
advisory conference would result in a permanent 
body with certain delegated powers. 

It is not my purpose to give a detailed account 
of the various quinquennial conferences and the dis- 



FIVE YEARS' MEETING 361 

cussions which finally resulted in the declaration of 
faith, in the uniform discipline, in the formation of 
the American Friends Board of Foreign Missions, 
and the establishing of the Five Years' Meeting in 
1902, for these discussions are matters of history and 
are published in the minutes and proceedings of 
each meeting, and will be interesting reading for 
the future historian of our Society. Our young 
Friends should read and study them, that they may 
know how all these conclusions were finally reached. 
A few facts about the writing of the declaration of 
faith may be interesting and worth preserving. 
After the organization of the conference the first 
question proposed for discussion was: "Is it desir- 
able that all the yearly meetings of Friends in the 
world should adopt one declaration of Christian doc- 
trine?" 

One entire session was devoted to the discussion 
of the question, more than twenty delegates from 
nine yearly meetings taking part, and all but one 
in the affirmative. A committee of twelve was ap- 
pointed to draft the said declaration of faith, which 
was, after free discussion, approved by the conference 
and subsequently adopted or approved by all the 
American yearly meetings except Ohio. The com- 
mittee met, and different ones were appointed to 
prepare certain sections of the declaration, but the 
greater portion of it was prepared by our late dear 
friend, Joseph Bevan Braithwaite, of London Yearly 
Meeting. It was written at the desk where I am 
now sitting. When he left home, thinking that 
something of the kind might claim the attention of 
the conference, he put in with his baggage several 
books and manuscripts that were prepared by the 



362 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

earlier writers among Friends and had not been 
changed by Friends of more recent date in this 
country or anywhere else. His remark was: "We 
want the original Quakerism free from the influence 
and thought of some of our Friends who have im- 
bibed some of the spirit and practice of other 
denominations or have been influenced by their 
environments. " Our dear friend worked early and 
late when not in the conference. I remember lying 
on the lounge until he quit writing near midnight, 
and then taking him to the dining room and getting 
him something to eat before he retired. Then in 
the morning he was up before anyone else. This was 
the case for two nights. Before it was presented to 
the conference it was gone over carefully, Joseph 
Bevan Braithwaite sitting at the desk reading care- 
fully what had been written, Dr. James E. Rhoads, 
of Philadelphia, looking over the quotations from 
Friends writings to see that they were correct 
quoted, and Dr. James Carey Thomas, of Baltimore, 
watching the Scripture quotations to see that there 
were no mistakes made there. They have all three 
passed away, but their work remains. Next morn- 
ing, after it was adopted by the conference, Joseph 
Bevan Braithwaite handed me the pen he wrote it 
with -and said: "Thee may have tjiat to keep." I 
have it yet. 

The subject of establishing a conference of yearly 
meetings with certain delegated powers, to meet at 
stated periods, was ably treated and agitated in a. 
paper written and read by Dr. William Nicholson, 
of Kansas Yearly Meeting. He pointed out the 
importance of it, and with a perfect insight he por- 
trayed what we now have in the Five Years' Meeting. 



FIVE YEARS' MEETING 363 

There was no time to discuss it, but the yearly meet- 
ings were requested to consider the subject. While 
there was no time to enter upon the consideration 
of this important matter, it was interesting to notice 
that the opposition to this and other advanced steps, 
such as the uniform discipline and the American 
Friends Board of Foreign Missions, came from those 
occupying extreme views, conservatives or radicals. 
The extremes met in opposing movements calculated 
to unite the Church. People who have extreme 
views either way as a rule are not safe leaders. 
They can see but one side of a question. Indeed they 
would have people believe there is but one side, and 
that one their side. A friend of mine who was a great 
educator once remarked to me : * 'Only a few men can 
see both sides of a question," but Dr. William 
Nicholson read the signs of the times and knew what 
Israel ought to do. Such men are born leaders, but 
have to wait sometimes. He said: "Such a meeting 
will be organized some day and will have a beneficial 
effect in strengthening and unifying the Church." 
He saw the finger of God pointing in that direction. 
Such men labor, and other men enter into their 
labors. To-day our branch of the Church needs men 
who have "understanding of the signs of the times 
and know what Israel ought to do"; men whose 
vision is forward, and not backward; men who see 
good and not evil in the future for the Church ; men 
who are laboring to unite rather than to divide the 
Church; men who tell us that the hand of God is 
good upon us. So that Friends may say one to 
another under their leadership: "Let us arise and 
build." 



Chapter XLI 

THE ORIGIN OF THE BIBLE INSTITUTE 

The beginning of the Bible institute came about 
in this way. While acting as superintendent of the 
evangelistic and pastoral committee of Indiana 
Yearly Meeting, I was impressed with the import- 
ance of our ministers giving more time to the study 
of the Bible. While our First-day school conven- 
tions and Christian Endeavor assemblies and minis- 
terial conferences had their places and were doing a 
great work in stirring up an interest in these various 
fields of labors, yet this interest was too superficial 
and temporary to meet the needs of our ministers 
and Christian workers. This was fully demon- 
strated when the Bible institute was started and the 
study of the Bible was more thoroughly introduced 
through lectures that required thought and research 
to follow and enjoy. It was nothing unusual to hear 
those who had been accustomed to the excitement of 
revival work and who had listened to the addresses 
and lectures given before the Bible school assemblies 
and Christian Endeavor conventions, which were 
filled with anecdotes and exciting illustrations 
intended to move the emotions and stir up the feel- 
ings for the time, to say: "We do not enjoy these 
Bible institutes. We want to be out 'saving souls. ' 
We want to do something more practical. These 
studies are too dry for us." This is the same 
argument often heard from the college boy when his 

(364) 



BIBLE INSTITUTE 365 

father wants him to remain in college: "I want to 
get into business. I want to make money." It 
was the same hurry for visible results that first pre- 
vailed in regard to going into the foreign mission 
work. If some missionary had the zeal and wanted 
to go, the' Church laid its hands on him and sent 
him forth, but after many failur s and a great waste 
of time and money, no foreign mission board to-day 
that is worthy of the name will accept a candidate 
for the mission field who has not, along with the 
zeal, a trained mind, and who has not studied to pre- 
pare himself for the field where he is to go. And 
if, in addition to his religious training, he has some 
medical knowledge, so much the better. Yes, and 
the subject of bodily health is now included in the 
curriculum of the more advanced foreign missionary 
board. 

The future minister of the Gospel in our 
branch of the Church must recognize the fact that 
along with his call and zeal there must be a knowl- 
edge of the Bible and of Christian work that he will 
only obtain by thorough work and real study and 
research that will fill his mind with " things new and 
old" that the Spirit can draw upon when he stands 
before the congregation. Otir congregations are 
being filled more and more by persons who know 
more than the minister, who weigh him and decide 
wherein he is wanting. They have their spiritual 
experiences as well as the minister, and know that 
which feeds the soul and builds up the spiritual man. 
The minister who ignores these facts may satisfy for 
a season, but soon he will find he is not wanted. 
The congregations may be kind to him and treat him 
gently for what he has been, but when the oppor- 



366 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

tunity offers he will find himself in the rear. Others 
will be put forward. If we have neglected the prep- 
aration we must not murmur. If they have grown 
tired of our oft-repeated sermons and turn to fresher 
ones with new thoughts and fresh life in them, we 
must not complain. It was this view of the future 
of our Church that impressed me with the idea of 
making an effort to call as many ministers and 
Christian workers together at Earlham College as 
I could. Our evangelistic and pastoral committee 
had no money, but they were willing that as super- 
intendent I should try my plan. I wrote an appeal, 
explaining what we wanted to do and the object we 
desired to accomplish. One hundred of these let- 
ters were sent to my friends, asking them to send 
whatever amount they felt it was right for them to 
give. The trustees were asked to let us have the 
use of the buildings and groimds at Earlham. 
Notice was sent to the various monthly meetings in 
the three yearly meetings of Indiana, Western and 
Wilmington, inviting the ministers and workers to 
come. When the time arrived, between thirty and 
forty of this class were present, and the twelve days ' 
program was carried out to the satisfaction of those 
present. Money enough came in to pay the board 
and all other expenses of those who came, and $ioo 
was left after the entire expenses were met. That 
$ioo was turned over to the Biblical department of 
Earlham College. 

Such was the beginning of this work, which I 
believe has been greatly blessed to many who have 
come under its influence. The following year the 
yearly meeting was requested to assume control of 
the movement. This resulted in an invitation to 



^ 



BIBLE INSTITUTE 367 

Western and Wilmington Yearly Meetings to unite 
in the control of the same, which they have done 
up to this time. While there have been those who 
have found fault, as is the case in all onward move- 
ments, yet as those who have availed themselves of 
its benefits are the ones who are in demand or 
teachers and religious workers of various kinds in 
the different yearly meetings, the wisdom of the 
movement is demonstrated. 



Chapter XLII 

THE OPENING OF CALIFORNIA YEARLY 
MEETING. 

During the next few years I attended several of 
the yearly meetings and engaged in such religious 
work as appeared to be right. In 1888 I attended 
Ohio and Iowa Yearly Meetings. In 1889 I at- 
tended Canada Yearly Meeting, my wife going 
with me. In 1890 my wife and I attended Balti- 
more Yearly Meeting and the opening of Wilming- 
ton Yearly Meeting in 1892. Diu-ing the latter 
year, as yearly meeting superintendent, I visited the 
Friends in Florida belonging to Indiana Yearly 
Meeting. In 1895, when Iowa Yearly Meeting set 
up California Yearly Meeting at Whittier, Cali- 
fornia, Indiana Yearly Meeting donated $1,000 to 
assist them in the beginning of their work, and 
appointed Mary H. Goddard and myself to attend 
the opening as delegates representing our yearly 
meeting. A number of Friends from Ohio, Indiana 
and Western Yearly Meetings also went as visitors 
to the yearly meeting. According: to the arrange- 
ments made, twenty-two of us left Chicago in the 
same tourist sleeper on the Santa F6 Railroad. My 
wife went with me. We had a minute from our 
meeting at home liberating us to attend the meet- 
ings of California Yearly Meeting, and also Oregon 
Yearly Meeting and the meetings belonging to it. 

We had a very pleasant trip. There were 
(368) 



CALIFORNIA YEARLY MEETING 369 

several ministers in the company. It was cus- 
tomary, after breakfast was over and things were 
straightened up, to have a season of divine worship, 
which consisted in reading the Bible, singing hymns, 
and prayer, in which nearly all took part. After 
the first morning others requested the privilege of 
coming in from other cars in the train. The con- 
ductor entered into the arrangement, and the time 
selected was the one most convenient for him. Walk- 
ing on the platform at a station while the train was 
taking water and making some changes, the engineer 
came up to me and inquired : " Do you belong to that 
car that has religious services each morning?" He 
added: "I wish I could attend them, but we men 
do not get much opportunity for anything like that. *' 
The last morning the car was full. It is pleasant 
to look back to those occasions and the company that 
met, but we are widely separated now. Perhaps 
some may have been blessed. We are commanded 
to sow seed by all waters. 

Pasadena was safely reached, and our train was 
on time. We were met by Friends, who kindly cared 
for us. The next day a company of ten or twelve 
us of were driven across the country in a tallyho to 
Whittier. It was a beautiful day, and we enjoyed 
the scenery very much. A warm welcome awaited 
us. The next morning the yearly meeting opened. I 
need not dwell much on that, for its history is known, 
but there were some features of it that were inter- 
esting. When we met in the college building it was 
a great surprise to see so many that I knew. On 
the way my wife had remarked that when we reached 
California we would be among strangers. On the 
contrary, upon taking my seat and looking over the 

24 



370 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

company, I recognized nearly half as Friends that 
I had met in the various yeariy meetings along the 
Atlantic coast and the yeariy meetings in the middle 
West, and a few from London. A larger proportion 
were from Indiana, Western and Iowa, the latter 
having more representatives than any other one. It 
was an intelligent and earnest body of Friends, many 
of them having come from meetings where they had 
been active members in Church work; so they were 
prepared to do their part in forming and organizing 
a strong yearly meeting and in carrying it forward, 
there being, however, one element of danger in this 
unique situation. 

The strong men and women had their own 
ideas of the proper manner of conducting the 
business of a yearly meeting, each being guided 
by the way in which it was done in the yearly meet- 
ing from which he came. Those who are acquainted 
with all the yearly meetings in America, each having 
its special territory, widely separated from each 
other, know the peculiar characteristics belonging 
to each one. Each differs from the other in some 
respect, and there is nothing to bring these different 
methods into harmony except epistolary correspond- 
ence and the visiting of ministers traveling in 
"truth's service," these latter being much more 
beneficial than at the time was recognized. These 
visits were undertaken by the minister under a 
"religious concern" to preach the Gospel and to 
build up the Church, but as we look back to-day we 
can see that they did much to unify the meetings, 
draw the bond of Christian love tighter and keep the 
spirit of separation down. It was beautiful, from 
session to session, though they had strong opinions 



CALIFORNIA YEARLY MEETING 371 

of their own, to witness their yielding one to another 
and uniting in love and harmony in the transaction of 
the business that came before them in the organiza- 
tion of this yearly meeting, which was destined to 
play so important a part in the growth of Quakerism 
on the Pacific coast. 

As the time has rolled on the same spirit has 
enabled the dear Friends of that yearly meeting 
to assimilate the various elements that have 
continued to flow into its borders from other 
yearly meetings. Perhaps there is a greate vari- 
ety of opinions and shades of belief entering into 
the membership of that yearly meeting than of any 
other, yet .they have continued to labor together with 
more or less harmony. Whittier College has done 
much to make it a center of great influence in the 
field it occupies, and as its membership becomes more 
united in the college its strength will increase and its 
stability will be assured. California Yearly Meeting 
has also been permeated with a real missionary 
spirit, which always has a reflex influence upon the 
meeting that is engaged in reaching out into new 
fields. So we must believe that the opening of this 
yearly meeting was in the ordering of the great Head 
of the Church and has been instrumental in the build- 
ing up of His Kingdom. 

After the close of the yearly meeting my wife 
and I visited most of the meetings belonging to it, 
holding a series of meetings in several places, espe- 
cially in Whittier and Pomona. Having finished 
our work in that yearly meeting at Berkeley, we 
then went on to Newberg, Oregon, where we had 
a pleasant time and found an open door for preach- 
ing the Gospel while attending Oregon Yearly 



372 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

Meeting, which was the first one established on the 
Pacific coast, having been set up in 1893. Here 
again we found many Friends from Eastern yearly 
meetings, though not in such great variety as in 
California. The dear Friends here had shown great 
enterprise and liberality in starting Pacific College 
and building a good and substantial meeting-house 
for the yearly meeting. Here again at the close of 
the yearly meeting we visited the meetings belong- 
ing to it. In looking back at the Friends of Oregon 
we feel now, as we did then, that they should have 
the sympathy and help of other Friends in the 
Eastern yearly meetings. Certainly Pacific College 
is located in an important field and is fulfilling a 
real mission. I trust the day is not far off when 
they will receive more financial aid. 
From there we rettimed home. 



Chapter XLIII 

WINTER IN ALABAMA AND FLORIDA 

My dear wife, who had been failing in health for 
several years, now became so feeble that we decided 
to try a warmer climate during the winter of 1897. 
After some inquiries we decided to go to Evergreen, 
Alabama, located on the Louisville and Nashville 
Railroad, about fifty miles north of Mobile. We 
reached there and went to the leading hotel to board 
until we should have had time to look around and 
find rooms where we might set up housekeeping for 
ourselves. There were a number of boarders, and 
on the second night there was a move to have a dance 
and a general good time. With true Southern 
politeness, I was invited to take part in the dance. 
When I plead ignorance in that line, an elderly 
gentleman took pity on me and invited me to take 
part in a game of cards. When I told him I did 
not know one card from another he looked surprised. 
At this stage an old gentleman came to my help 
with a look of real sympathy on his face and asked 
me to drink some wine with him and have a smoke, 
and when I replied that I neither drank nor smoked, 
he looked at me for a moment and exclaimed, ** Well, 
what do you do ? " When we had watched for a 
while their proceedings, imtil they finally got the 
ball started and all appeared to be enjoying them- 
selves, we retired to rest, impressed with what trash 
they were willing to feed upon and call it enjoyment. 

(373) 



3 74 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

What poor food for either mind or body! It was 
continued until a late hour, and some had to be 
carried to bed, and the next day they were a sorry 
looking set, little prepared for real life work. It is 
sad to see life wasted in such manner. Such people 
do not know what true living is. 

We were soon nicely located in a couple of rooms, 
where we did our own housekeeping. Evergreen 
was a town of some 3,000 inhabitants, with an 
institution of learning located there to which they 
gave the name of "academy." My wife, being 
feeble, did not get out much. I attended a Metho- 
dist Bible school and their meetings on First-day, 
which were held every other First-day, and on the 
day that there was no service at the Methodist 
Church I went to the Baptist service and attended 
their Young People's Society in the afternoon. The 
Baptist was the largest congregation and the richest 
and most influential denomination in the place. 

The Methodist leader who had a class of older 
persons, in their Bible school was taken sick about 
three weeks after we reached there. The superin- 
tendent invited me to take the class, which I did. 
It soon got rumored through the town that we were 
Quakers and that I was a minister. We were 
curiosities. From that time I became a "speckled 
bird" in the town, and had many opportunities to 
discuss theology. I never enjoyed splitting hairs 
on doctrine, but felt the deep need of living Christ 
before the people, who were very friendly and came 
often to visit us and ask questions. We prayed that 
the Lord would make our stay a blessing to the 
churches, for religion was at a low ebb in all, the 
churches having but few members. My class in 



ALABAMA AND FLORIDA 375 

the Bible school increased so that we had to have a 
larger space to meet in, and when the teacher 
returned he went into the class and told me to go 
ahead. I did away with reading the questions and 
the class reading the answers, and our class hour 
became a time of much interest. The Baptist 
Young People's Society called upon me several 
times to address them, which I gladly did, for their 
meetings had a large number of young people. 
One First-day evening the Methodist minister 
asked me to preach for him, which I did, my wife 
saying, "I have been praying that the way might 
open to preach the Gospel to them. " The name of 
Quaker brought a crowded house. A few days 
later, meeting the Baptist minister, he said, frankly, 
"Brother Jay, I would be glad to invite you to 
preach in my pulpit, but the officers of my church 
do not believe that anybody can preach the Gospel 
tmless they have been immersed, and I understand 
you have not been. " I simply told him that I was 
getting all I wished to do among his young people 
and in the other church. Time rolled on, and 
between preaching occasionally, my Bible class, 
and the Baptist Yoiing People's Society, I was kept 
busy. My wife occasionally got out to the prayer 
meeting, and when she took part it was a great 
surprise, and the women invited her to their mis- 
sionary meetings and other special occasions and 
requested her to lead in vocal prayer. 

About one month before the time for us to leave 
the Methodist minister asked me how I would like 
to occupy his pulpit the next Sunday while he was 
away at his other appointment. I told him it was 
just what I had been wanting. So it was announced 



376 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

in the daily papers that the service would be held 
by a Quaker preacher. The house was packed 
morning and evening. It was a good day, and it 
was easy preaching. At the close of the night 
service the wife of the presiding elder, who lived at 
Evergreen, came to me, and said: " Brother Jay, you 
made a mistake to-night. You ought to have called 
for an altar service. The congregation was ready 
for it. " I told her that I had no disposition to take 
advantage of the pastor's absence. The next eve- 
ning the minister came to our home, and laying his 
cigar down on the porch rail, came in and asked me 
to take a moonlight walk with him. He said that 
the leaders of the church felt that the time had 
come to hold a revival service, and that they 
believed I should hold it. I told him that my wife 
and I had been praying for the way to open, and 
that I was ready. I wanted him to take charge of 
the singing and the opening prayer service, and then 
I would take charge of the meeting after that. He 
said, " Next Wednesday night, being prayer meeting 
night, we'll begin." 

It was thoroughly advertised in the daily papers, 
and handbills were posted all over the town, so that 
the house was crowded from the beginning. The day 
before we were to begin, the minister came, with the 
Baptist minister with him, and said they thought it 
would be right to tell me a little about the condi- 
tions which surroimded the church in that place — 
that I must be careful not to say anything against 
card playing or dancing, and that I had better let 
the theater alone, as most of their people attended 
it. My reply was, " We will try and let the Lord 
direct the preaching. " The meetings went on eight 



ALABAMA AND FLORIDA 377 

or ten days, when one night, after I had closed 
preaching, I stepped down to the altar rail and said 
something like this, "Now, while they sing another 
hymn, if there is anyone in the house who wants 
to give his heart to God and live a Christian life, 
let him come and take my hand." Scarcely had 
the hymn been begun when one of the wealthiest, 
most influential young ladies, theater-going, card- 
playing and a leader in the ball-room, rose, about 
half way back, and walking up the aisle with her 
face bathed in tears, came forward and grasped my 
hand, exclaiming, **Pray for me," and fell on her 
knees at the altar. Soon the altar was full, with 
some twenty or thirty persons. It was the beginning 
of a wonderful revival. The whole town was shaken. 
My dear wife wrote a little account of the work to 
The American Friend, which was published in that 
paper Fifth month 6, 1897, and is as follows: 

"Dear Friend: — We have just returned to our 
home from Evergreen, Alabama, and I believe it 
will be right to tell a little of the work my husband 
has been engaged in since the note he wrote to thee 
a few weeks ago. He continued to teach the Bible 
class on First-day morning, which increased in 
numbers. He was called upon to address the 
Epworth League in the Methodist church, and the 
Sunbeam Society in the Baptist church. He was 
also called upon to conduct the devotional exercises 
in the academy, which has over 300 students, 
besides being often called upon to tell of our reli- 
gious views in private circles. On First-day, the 
4th of this month, the Methodist minister went to 
his other appointment, and my husband asked the 
privilege of holding meetings that day, both morning 



378 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

and evening. The house was fiill. On Second-day, 
when the minister rettimed, his official members 
called on him and requested that a series of meetings 
be held and my husband be invited to conduct them. 
He united with the proposition and began at once 
to make the arrangements, which were soon made. 
It was what we had been praying for, and the meet- 
ing began on Fourth-day, the 7th of Fourth month, 
continuing eighteen days, two meetings each day, 
one in the afternoon and one at night. In addition 
there were five prayer meetings each day, at the 
same hour, in different parts of the town in private 
houses, where those living in the immediate vicinity 
attended. Many were reached in this way and 
thereby induced to attend the meeting. The mer- 
chants and other business men closed their places of 
business during the last week and came with their 
clerks to attend the services both afternoon and 
evening. 

'The meetings have been occasions of great bless- 
ing. The house has been full, and at times some 
went away, being unable to get in. Generally from 
fifty to one hundred came forward, seeking salvation 
or a better experience, manifesting much brokenness 
of spirit. Many of these were members of some one 
of the churches, having been baptized with water, 
but continuing in card-playing, dancing, theater- 
going and other worldly amusements. Many con- 
fessed that they had never heard the Gospel preached 
so plainly before. They had not thought of a self- 
denying life as so essential to a real Christian charac- 
ter. They were told plainly that they must deny 
self, take up the cross and follow Jesus daily. The 
baptism of the Holy Spirit was held up as the 



ALABAMA AND FLORIDA 379 

only saving baptism. The doctrine of a ftill and 
free salvation was proclaimed without reserve. I 
think I never heard my husband more favored in 
proclaiming the Gospel. The prejudice among the 
churches gave way and they all joined in, many who 
were converted, to praise the Lord. Even the 
women's voices were heard in prayer and praise in 
public, which was a wonderful revolution among 
their churches. At the last meeting my husband 
asked all who would promise to have family worship 
in their homes to come forward and shake hands 
with him. A large number did so, with tears and 
solemn promises. The meeting was closed by sing- 
ing, 'God be with you till we meet again.' The 
parting was in much love. It has been the Lord's 
work. To Him be all the praise. Sincerely thy 
friend, Martha A. Jay. " 

With the above I close my account of the winter 
spent at Evergreen. The newspapers said a great 
deal of a flattering nature, which is better forgotten. 
The Methodist and Baptist ministers each wrote a 
very full account of the work and addressed it to 
our monthly meeting, but it was so full of flattery 
that I never felt like presenting it to the meeting. 
I do not remember now that I ever showed it to any 
of my friends. It is enough to say that the remem- 
brance of those days brings a feeling of thankfulness. 
Many came to the train to see us off the night we 
left. 

Winter in Florida 

My wife continuing poorly, we felt that it wotdd 
be right to spend the following winter where the 
climate would be mild and healthful. After some 



38o AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

inquiry, and having some friends staying in Mel- 
bourne, Florida, we decided to go there. It was a 
pleasant little town, located on the banks of the 
Indian River, and several Northern people were in 
the place, spending their winter there on accoiint of 
its pleasant climate. It contained several chtirches. 
I found work in the Bible schools of the Methodist 
and Episcopal churches, and was frequently invited 
to preach on First-day and take part in conventions 
and Sim.day-school work. It was interesting to 
observe the simple faith of those Southern people. 
While I do not know that Southern people as a class 
are any more religious than people in the more 
northern portions of our country, yet there is this 
difference: Among the great masses of the people 
in the South you find comparatively few who express 
any doubt about the Bible or the facts it contains. 
Even those who pay but little attention to living a 
religious life will acknowledge the facts of Chris- 
tianity as taught and believed by the various 
Churches. They may rarely go to church or Sun- 
day-school, yet they will admit it is the right thing 
to do. They may seldom look inside their Bibles, 
yet they hold them in more or less reverence and 
would not think of disbelieving the doctrines set 
forth there as they imder stand them. To them the 
Bible is a sacred book, never to be repudiated. My 
experience and observation has led me to believe 
that it is easier to preach the Gospel to them than 
it is to preach to the masses in our Northern States. 
While this is the case, I am not prepared to say 
that the moral and religious life of the people is, 
on the average, any higher than that of the same 
class of people in the northern and western sections 



ALABAMA AND FLORIDA 381 

of our country. They are perhaps more emotional, 
and will accept the truths of the Gospel more 
quickly and make a profession of faith more easily, 
but they may not hold out as long as those who have 
found it harder to get rid of their doubts. 

During the winter I made a few excursions with 
the purpose of finding a few scattered Friends who 
had located in Florida. Among these I found one 
dear Friend whose father I had known in England. 
My visit at his home was one that I shall long 
remember. He did what he could to get up a 
meeting for me on First-day morning among the 
people where he lived. It proved a favored occasion. 

Bereavements 

We spent the winter very comfortably, going out 
nearly every day in a little boat on the water, which 
proved beneficial to my wife. Early in the spring, 
however, we learned of the declining health of our 
son. Dr. William C. Jay, who lived near Oskaloosa, 
Iowa, so we hastened home, and I went to help 
them close up their home in Iowa, bringing my son, 
his wife and their son to our house. Soon after- 
ward he went entirely blind, and I gave my time 
to the care of him and his mother imtil First month 
10, 1898, when his Hfe peacefully closed. My wife 
gradually grew weaker until Fourth month, 27, 1899, 
when she also sweetly passed to the Beyond. Her 
end was a beautiful example of how a Christian may 
die. Her advice and counsel to me during her clos- 
ing days has been a strength and has enabled me to 
continue the work that I have found to do. Thus 
passed away a loving and devoted wife and mother. 
We had walked together over forty-four years. She 



382 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

never hesitated to give me up when I felt called to 
leave home to preach the Gospel or labor in religious 
work of any kind. Indeed I have often felt that 
her sacrifice was greater than mine, and that she 
was the one who should receive the greater reward. 
It may be sometimes that in expressing our sym- 
pathy and giving encouragement to the minister, 
the faithful wife at home with the children is for- 
gotten by the church and its membership. 

It was a lonely day when she left me. I felt 
indeed that the light of the home had gone out. 
None but those who have gone through it know 
what it is. I have tried, in a measure at least, to 
remember her advice, given the day before she died, 
when she said to me: "Now, when I am gone, don't 
sit down and mourn, but rise up and go to work and 
finish the service the Lord has for thee to do, and 
when it is done, come home and we will be together." 
She then told me some of the important things 
that it would be right for me to do, such as paying 
another visit to London and Dublin Yearly Meet- 
ings, helping to get Earlham and Guilford Colleges 
out of debt, and some other labor. She certainly 
had a prophetic vision of what lay before me. I 
pray it may all be completed when the end comes. 

Visits to Baltimore, Mew York and New England 
Yearly Meetings 

During the next year I felt it right to attend to 
some religious service in Baltimore, New York and 
New England Yearly Meetings. During this jour- 
ney I spent several days in the city of Washington, 
D. C, laboring among the Friends in that city and 
making my home with my dear friend, Robert 



ALABAMA AND FLORIDA 383 

Warder and his wife. While in New England I went 
across to Nantucket Island and spent several days 
resting and looking over some of the old records to 
be found among those of the Historical Society on 
that island. My grandmother having been a Macy, 
and her father having come from that island, I felt 
more than an ordinary interest. Seeing the name of 
Macy over a grocery store, I stepped in and told 
the owner that my great-grandfather Macy came 
from that island. He simply exclaimed: "You 
have 500 cousins here. " I visited the old meeting- 
house, where once there was a large meeting of 
Friends. It is said that at one time there were more 
than 2,000 Friends on the island, but they are gone 
now, and there are only a few left. Those remain- 
ing belong to what they call the Wilburite party. 
I am not sure that there is any meeting held on the 
island any more. It is a sad commentary on the 
vitality of Quakerism. We must believe that it is 
through no fault of the principles of Quakerism, but 
it is the fault of those who fail to present its living 
principles to the world around them. How much 
the separation had to do with pulling down Quaker- 
ism on that island and in many other places we 
may never know, but I believe that division and 
separation cannot remedy an evil, but always result 
in weakness and distraction to the Church. While 
there I visited many interesting places. Among 
these was the home of William Mitchel, the father 
of Maria Mitchel, the astronomer, who won dis- 
tinction and received a medal for her discovery in 
astronomy. I enjoyed going up on top of the house 
where she used her telescope. 

From Nantucket Island I went to Amesbury 



384 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

and talked with my dear friends, Daniel Maxfield 
and wife. The former was connected with Provi- 
dence Boarding-school while we lived there. I 
visited the scenes of Whittier's early life and his 
home in Amesbury, which is now preserved by the 
Whittier Society and kept open for visitors, so they 
can see the home as he left it and many relics which 
were dear to him. In visiting his grave I had an 
opportunity of witnessing evidences of the esteem 
in which his memory was held by many who came 
to look upon his last resting place. At the head of 
the grave the hedge which surrounds the lot had 
been cut away by people who had cut off portions 
to carry home as mementos. Our English Friends 
have all along appreciated his writings more than 
Friends in America. I see that the Yorkshire 1905 
Committee, in the belief that Friends have not yet 
done what they might in making widely known the 
"magnificent spiritual legacy left us by Whittier," 
have prepared a selection of his poems for free 
distribution. It was interesting to visit the home 
of Thomas Macy, whose house has been placed under 
the care of the Society and turned into a museum 
where are kept many interesting mementos of the 
earlier days of Amesbury and the siurounding 
country. Thomas Macy was persecuted for har- 
boring the Quakers. I have seen it stated that 
perhaps Marmaduke Stevenson and William Rob- 
inson stayed over night in his home a short time 
before they were hung in Boston. He took his 
family in a boat and went down the stream into the 
ocean and crossed over to Nantucket Island, and 
some accounts say that they were the first white 
people who ever settled there. 



ALABAMA AND FLORIDA 385 

After spending most of the summer in visiting 
many of the Friends and meetings in these yearly- 
meetings, I returned home in time for our yearly 
meeting. 



28 



Chapter XLIV 

MARRIAGE AND VISIT TO ENGLAND 
AND IRELAND 

As the year 1900 was advancing, the subject of 
another reHgious visit to London and DubHn Yearly- 
Meetings came up with such freshness as led me to 
believe that it would be right for me to lay the 
matter before my friends. So in the Eighth month 
of that year I presented it to oiu* monthly meeting, 
and to the quarterly meeting on Ninth month i, 
both of which meetings gave their unity and en- 
couragement. I then began shaping matters in 
order to be ready. While waiting for the yearly 
meeting of m nistry and oversight to occur, before 
which it was necessary to lay this concern in order 
to receive its final endorsement, I was busy in 
perfecting these arrangements. About two weeks 
before the yearly meeting, without any previous 
thought on the matter, my mind was impressed 
that it would be right to ask Naomi W. Harrison to 
become my wife and that she should go with me. 
It was so unexpected that I hesitated two or three 
days before acting, but when I did mention the 
subject to her it was pleasant to know that her 
mind had been directed in the same channel, so that 
the matter was soon arranged. We were well 
acquainted, our homes being close together, and 
having been associated in church and college work 
or a number of years. She had been at the clerk's 

(386) 




NAOMI H. JAY. 



SECOND TRIP TO EUROPE 387 

table of Indiana Yearly Meeting for twenty-six 
years, half that time as assistant and the other half 
as the clerk. When we informed our friends during 
the yearly meeting, we found much encouragement 
from the Friends in different parts of the yearly 
meeting. We were married according to the good 
order of Friends, Eleventh month 25, 1900. The 
yearly meeting having endorsed my concern to visit 
Friends in London and Dublin Yearly Meetings, we 
proceeded to make arrangements for the journey, 
my wife having obtained a minute from the monthly 
meeting to unite with me in the service. We sailed 
from New York, Second month 2, 1901, my wife's 
youngest daughter, Miriam A. Harrison, who lived 
with us, going along. The monthly meeting en- 
dorsed her going and gave her a minute liberating 
her and encouraging her to be faithful to perform 
such work as she might find to do. We had rather a 
rough voyage, yet did not suffer much inconvenience 
from seasickness, my wife going to every meal. 

Upon arriving in Liverpool, we went directly to 
the home of Dr. Thorpe where we received a cordial 
welcome. The next day we went to Leominster, 
where we made our home with our dear friend, 
Henry Stanley Newman, at Buckfield, to rest for a few 
days before starting upon our work. It was a real 
pleasure to be with our dear friend in his own home 
and to talk over the days spent together in America. 

Our English Friends have what they call an 
American Committee, composed of persons who 
are set apart to kindly look after American ministers 
who are traveling with minutes for religious service 
in their cotintry, to coxmsel and advise them, help 
them in preparing their program and give all neces- 



388 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

sary assistance in carrying out their concern. It 
was thought best that I should go up to London 
and meet with this committee before entering upon 
the field of labor which lay before us, which I did 
upon the following day. We had a very satisfactory 
conference. They were exceedingly kind and did 
all they could to help make the necessary arrange- 
ments. Having had a map of the meetings in 
London Yearly Meeting, together with the Book of 
Meetings, I made out a tentative program before 
leaving home which, at their request, I laid before 
them and which, with a few slight alterations, they 
fully endorsed. I returned to Leominster the 
following day. 

After a few days we attended a quarterly meet- 
ing in Wales and went to Doncaster, Sheffield, Man- 
chester, and from there crossed over to Ireland, and 
went almost directly to the limits of Ulster Quarterly 
Meeting in the north of Ireland, stopping first with 
o-ur dear friend, Anna Pym, at Lisbon. We then 
proceeded to visit all the meetings belonging to that 
quarter, also the schools Having visited the 
meetings in the north of Ireland, we then went to 
Leinster Quarterly Meeting in the south of Ireland, 
going almost directly to Cork and making our home 
in that city with Benjamin Haughton. I had made 
my home with his father, Benjamin Haughton, Sr., 
twenty-six years before. We visited the meetings 
and schools within the limits of that quarterly 
meeting, after which we spent three days visiting the 
Lakes of Killarney and their surroiuidings. Then 
going into Munster Quarterly Meeting, we visited 
the meetings and schools of that quarter before the 
time of the yearly meeting. It would be pleasant 



SECOND TRIP TO EUROPE 389 

to trace our journey from meeting to meeting 
throughout Ireland and to dwell upon the many 
kind homes where we were made welcome, but this 
is not the purpose of this autobiography. It is only 
my purpose to speak in a general way and perhaps 
to allude to a few facts more prominent than others 
in the work. First among these and one which 
brings peace when dwelt upon was the universal 
kindness and Christian love which we met with 
throughout our entire stay in Ireland. We visited, 
as far as I can remember, all the meetings of Friends 
with possibly one exception. Some of them were 
very small, but these small meetings were specially 
upon our minds, and our visits to them were occa- 
sions of blessing to us, and I trust the dear Friends 
visited were strengthened by our calling upon them. 
One of these meetings had only three members. We 
also visited all the schools imder the care of the 
Friends, this being an interesting portion of our 
labors. 

The yearly meeting was a time of enjoyment. It 
was felt to be a favored occasion in which the Church 
was strengthened and encouraged. I missed some 
who were active leaders twenty-six years before, 
when I first attended that yearly meeting, but it 
was a great pleasure to receive the warm welcome 
of others. Prominent among these was our dear 
friend, Adam Wood, who was still active. We 
made our home with him and his dear daughters at 
their lovely home at Dundrum, his precious wife 
having passed on since I had been there before. 
There were others who were still in the foremost 
ranks. It was especially gratifying to see among 
the yoiinger ones numbers coming forward and 



390 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

filling up the places of those who had fallen out of 
the Church militant. 

After the close of the yearly meeting we crossed 
over to Holyhead and so on to London, where we 
went to the home of our dear friend, Joseph Bevan 
Braithwaite, and once more found a pleasant resting 
place during our stay in London. During the few 
days before the yearly meeting commenced we 
visited a few of the meetings in and around the city. 
According to previous arrangement, I attended the 
Young Friends meeting at Stoke Newington and 
addressed them on the subject which they had 
selected for me, "The Demand of the Hour Upon 
the Young." On Fifth month 22 the yearly 
meeting opened with John Morland as clerk, and 
Mary Jane Godlee, clerk of the women's meeting. 
Here, again, I foimd changes had taken place in 
the last twenty-six years. To me London Yearly 
Meeting has always been an interesting occasion 
whenever I have been present, and I think never 
more so than on this occasion. I could say much 
regarding the kindness of the dear Friends and the 
work of the yearly meeting, but London Yearly 
Meeting has been so often described by American 
visitors and in the English papers that I do not feel 
that it is necessary to dwell much upon it, only to 
say that it was the same strong, deliberative body 
that it had been and active in practical Christian 
work. Many of the younger members were coming 
forward and taking an active interest in the affairs 
of the Church. As a yearly meeting they were seek- 
ing to know the mind of Christ in the work that they 
were called to do ; upon the whole, a very satisfactory 
yearly meeting, growing stronger and reaching out 



SECOND TRIP TO EUROPE 391 

to build up the waste places, which it has continued 
to do until the present time, the last report showing 
a steady growth until they have reached a member- 
ship now of a little over nineteen thousand. 

After the close of the yearly meeting we were 
engaged very busily attending the greater number of 
the meetings in the north of England and in the 
Midland Counties. Here, again, I might find much 
of a pleasing nature to dwell upon, especially in our 
visits to Darlington, Kendal, Swarthmore and 
Birmingham. Particularly at Birmingham we were 
deeply interested in the adult school work and other 
Christian work carried on by the dear Friends there. 
We were thankful to have the privilege of attending 
the annual meeting of the adult school workers, 
who had been organized into a society, and enjoyed 
taking tea with them. We visited George Cadbury, 
who has since turned his old home into the center 
for the Woodbrooke movement. 

Perhaps it will not be out of place to add that our 
daughter, Miriam A. Harrison, found a place for 
service with us, especially among the younger mem- 
bers of the Church, and she was requested to attend 
and take part in the young people's societies and the 
adult schools. Her singing opened a door for her in 
many places among that class. 

Before closing the account of this visit I feel like 
alluding to a day spent with our dear friend, John 
Wilhelm Rowntree, who had previously been at our 
home in America for several days and who requested 
me to come to his home before leaving England, 
which I did. Upon arriving there, early in the 
morning, I found him ready with his lunch basket 
and we soon reached Robin Hood Bay. There, on 



392 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

a cliff overlooking the water, we sat down and 
talked over the condition of the Society of Friends 
in England, Ireland and America. Indeed, we first 
reviewed the condition of each yearly meeting sepa- 
rately, both in his country and ours. Then we 
dwelt upon the prospect of the Church's future 
prosperity and the things to be overcome. In doing 
this we freely discussed the men and women who 
were the leaders in the onward movement and those 
who bade fair to take a leading part in coming 
years. This was no idle conversation. It was 
opened by prayer and the yearly meetings and 
individuals were discussed with a desire to know 
what the future would bring forth. This conversa- 
tion was not for the public. It has never been made 
known to the public. This dear man, with a 
prophetic vision, was trying to penetrate the future 
of our Society. He saw more than many others. 
He saw some of the things that are beginning to 
transpire and which the futtire may more fully 
demonstrate. He labored, but others have entered 
into his labors. 

We closed our work, and left for home the first 
week in Eighth month, landing at Boston, and 
after spending a few days there we returned home. 



Chapter XLV 

HELPING GUILFORD, EARLHAM AND 
WHITTIER COLLEGES 

After returning from our visit with the Friends 
of London and DubHn Yearly Meetings, we settled 
down in the home at Earlham View, located in 
front of Earlham College, and found work to occupy 
our time in the Church and in connection with the 
college. We attended North Carolina Yearly Meet- 
ing in 1902, and Baltimore and North Carolina 
Yearly Meetings in 1903. I attended New York 
Yearly Meeting at Glen Falls in the spring of 1904 
and some of the meetings belonging to it. One day 
in the winter of 1904 I received a letter from our 
dear friend, Elihu E. Mendenhall, of Deep River, 
North Carolina, who had long been president of 
the board of trustees of Guilford College, and one 
who had given of his time and means for the good 
of that institution. Near the close he wrote, "Allen, 
I had hoped to see Guilford College out of debt 
before I died, but I never shall unless thee comes 
down and helps us. ' ' Turning to my wife and 
daughter, I asked, " How soon can you get ready to 
go to North Carolina and spend the winter.?" The 
reply was, *' In a few days. " I then said, *' We will 
start next Fourth-day." Turning to the desk, I 
wrote Elwood Cox, who had been appointed presi- 
dent of the board in the place of Elihu Mendenhall, 
who resigned on account of old age, and asked him 
to call a meeting of the trustees at the college on 

(393) 



394 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

Sixth-day of the next week. At the time set we 
closed up our home for the winter and started, 
reaching the college the night before the meeting. 

With the treasurer we went over the books, and 
found that the debt amounted to nearly $28,000. 
This was chiefly an old debt which, with the interest, 
had been growing from year to year. The trustees 
were all present. The whole matter was gone over, 
which resulted in the afternoon in my making the 
following proposition: That I would imdertake to 
raise the amount if they would help, and if one- 
fourth of the amount could be secured in the limits 
of North Carolina Yearly ]\Ieeting before going out- 
side to solicit. The members of the board showed 
their interest by subscribing $4,000 before we left 
the room. The next day President L. L. Hobbs and 
I started out, and within ten days we had secured 
subscriptions amounting to one-fourth of the debt. 
My wife had a room at the college and was to look 
after my correspondence, and I started for Philadel- 
phia, hoping to get the remainder of the amount in 
and around that city and Baltimore. Then began 
one of the most strenuous efforts in soliciting funds 
that I ever experienced. Soon after arriving, the 
weather turned cold, and for several days there was 
a blizzard, so that one night, after walking a good 
deal during the day, I had to walk to my home, 
which was with my dear friend, Asa Wing, when 
in the city. Another thing that made it hard was 
the fact that it was a debt. Many felt that they 
should not have gone into debt, so that I met with 
rebuffs on that account. Others felt that they 
wo\ild not subscribe unless the whole amoiuit should 
be raised. On the other hand, many dear Friends 



HELPING COLLEGES 395 

lent a helping hand. President Isaac Sharpless, 
Joshua L. Baily, Thomas Scattergood, Asa Wing 
and others encouraged me to hold on. So, for 
nearly four weeks, in and around Philadelphia, I 
went into homes, offices and places of business, 
meeting with success sometimes and failure at 
others. Having done what I felt I could at that 
time in Philadelphia, I turned towards Baltimore, 
where I had reason to. expect some good subscrip- 
tions. Here again things looked discouraging, for 
on First-day before my arrival in the city the great 
fire of 1904 took place, so that much of the city was 
in ruins. However, I stopped over, and going into 
the home of Francis White, he said, without any 
solicitation on my part, **I will give $2,500, even if 
I have lost heavily by the fire. " 

Returning to Guilford and reporting the results 
to the trustees, we found, when all was counted up, 
that there was $4,000 still lacking. They desired 
that I should return at once to the East and try to 
secure that, but I told them I would try another 
plan first. Securing a room, I put in two days 
writing letters to my friends in different parts of 
the United States, believing the amount would be 
forthcoming. 

Having a minute for religious service, I had 
arranged for a month's work among the meetings of 
Deep River, Southern, Western and Yadkin Valley 
Quarterly Meetings, our daughter Miriam going 
with me, and her mother caring for the correspond- 
ence. It was indeed pleasant to visit the meetings 
and homes of the dear Friends I had so often labored 
among thirty years before when a member of that 
yearly meeting. 



396 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

When we retiimed it was a great joy to find the 
officers and managers of Guilford rejoicing because 
the debt was all subscribed, a telegram having come 
that morning from Samuel Hill, of Seattle, saying, 
"I'll pay the last $i,ooo, " which closed the long- 
drawn-out effort. It was a glad day for Guilford. 
She put on new life and has been growing ever since, 
and is doing a great work. 

Buildings and Endowment for Earlham and Whittier 

For a long time the trustees of Earlham had 
talked of making an application to Andrew Carnegie 
for money to build a library at Earlham. Early 
in the year 1905, at a conference with the local 
trustees, I was requested to go East and make the 
effort. After studying the matter over I concluded 
to go to Washington and see if I could secure any 
help. 

Knowing that Joseph G. Cannon, the Speaker of 
the House of Representatives, was personally ac- 
quainted with Andrew Carnegie, and that when a 
young man he was a student at Earlham, and being 
myself also personally acquainted with him, upon 
my arrival in the city of Washington I went to the 
Speaker's room. We were soon engaged in talking 
the matter over. At first he did not think we would 
succeed, but after talking for a while he suggested 
that I write out an application and come back the 
next morning. Going to the hotel, I spent most of 
the night preparing the application and having three 
or four typewritten copies put in shape. Next 
morning at the appointed hour I met him in his 
room. He took the paper and read it over carefully, 
then assuming his familiar attitude, with his feet 



HELPING COLLEGES 397 

on the desk and a cigar in his mouth, he dictated a 
very satisfactory letter which, as soon as his secre- 
tary had put it into shape, he handed to me, advis- 
ing me to see the Senators from Indiana. Having 
met them before, I was glad to do so. They came 
out of the Senate, and were willing to do what they 
could, telling me to call in the afternoon and receive 
what they had written. Then, going to Vice-Presi- 
dent Fairbanks' room and finding him in, he soon 
had a short but full commendation ready for me. 
After receiving Senator Beveridge's and Senator 
Hemenway's letters, I returned to the House of 
Representatives and found James E. Watson, our 
Representative, and also Joseph Dixon, who had 
taken a post-graduate course at Earlham. Indeed 
I had known him from a child in North Carolina. 
He is now United States Senator from Montana. 
They both added their endorsement in letters. 
Armed with all these letters of commendation, I went 
to the post-ofhce in the building and mailed them, 
together with the application, to Carnegie. Next 
day I went to New York to see another party, who 
gave $1,000, and then I came home. 

A Gift from Andrew Carnegie 

Upon reaching home, the blank applications 
from Carnegie were there ready to be filled out. Presi- 
dent Kelly and I answered the required questions. 
We asked for the sum of $40,000. In a few days 
we received word that Andrew Carnegie would be 
pleased to give us the sum of $30,000 to erect a 
library building on condition that we would raise 
a like simi, the interest of which was to be used in 
the upkeep of the library. He also told us 



398 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

where to draw on him for the amount. This was 
good news, but at the same time it gave us a serious 
problem to solve — that of raising $30,000 to endow 
the library with. It was a time of financial de- 
pression, and, besides, we had other financial 
matters upon our hands. We waited that summer, 
and took no active steps imtil the next winter. 
During the winter and spring of 1906 I secured the 
sum of about $20,000 for the library, and the sum 
of $25,000 for the Edwin Bimdy dormitory building. 

Then feeling tired and somewhat worn, I decided 
to go to California and try to find a little rest, having 
made such arrangements as I thought would succeed 
in raising the remaining $10,000. My wife and I 
obtained a minute liberating us to attend California 
and Oregon Yearly Meetings and the meetings 
composing them so far as the way might open, and 
to visit the Friends in the State of Washington, 
especially those who belonged to Indiana Yearly 
Meeting. We also had a minute from the evan- 
gelistic, pastoral and church extension board of 
Indiana Yearly Meeting, requesting us to attend 
a conference of Friends in the State of Washington, 
to be held by those belonging to Indiana Yearly 
Meeting. Two or three years before, Charles 
Replogle and wife had gone to Everett, in that 
State, from Mimcie Monthly Meeting. Their work 
had been greatly blessed, and they had sent a 
number of names to their monthly meeting of 
persons who desired to become members of the 
Society of Friends. Two or three meetings had 
been established, and Friends in yet other places 
were holding meetings. 

My rest was not to be realized, for when we 



HELPING COLLEGES 399 

reached Whittier we found that the trustees of the 
college had appointed a meeting for that night at 
the home of our son-in-law to see if they could not 
get me to assist Rayner Kelsey in raising $100,000 
to add to the endowment fund of that institution. 
Before retiring that night, I had agreed to assist in 
the effort. After a few days we went to Imperial 
City, in the Imperial Valley, where our son-in-law, 
Stephen Stanton Myrick, and his wife lived, he being 
the pastor of the Methodist church in that place. 
They had a child born twenty-four hours before we 
reached there, whom they named Stephen Stanton 
Myrick, Jr. I remained there two weeks. Ten 
days of that time I was engaged in assisting my 
son-in-law in holding a series of meetings in the 
church. Several were converted, and a few joined 
the chtirch. He has since joined Friends and is 
now pastor of Friends meeting, Greensboro, N. C. 

I then returned to Whittier, and was engaged in 
soliciting funds for about two weeks, when, to my 
surprise, I received a letter from the president of 
Earlham, saying that it looked as though they would 
fail to secure the $10,000 to make up the neces- 
sary amount for the library, and as what had been 
subscribed was on condition that the remainder be 
secured, it was the judgment of the board of trus- 
tees that I ought to return. After a few hours' 
thought I filled my valise and started back across 
the Rocky Mountains, stopping a few days in San 
Jos^, San Francisco and Berkeley to secure what 
I could for Whittier, leaving San Francisco about a 
week before the great earthquake and fire which 
shook the whole country with sorrow. 

Reaching home, I commenced to work where I 



400 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

had left off. While asking for the library, I found 
that our dear friends, Zenas and Rachel Bundy, 
wished to give the $25,000 already mentioned for 
a dormitory building for boys on condition that we 
secure $25,000 more and erect a $50,000 building. 
Here was another sum to be raised. In prosecuting 
the work I went to Philadelphia, where I had been 
so often on a similar mission. Here again another 
subject came to the front. A dear friend, Joseph 
Elkinton, had lately died and left a large number of 
Friends books and manuscripts. After consulting 
with the agent and with one or two of the heirs, 
they agreed that we might have these for $1,500, 
because we proposed to keep them together at Earl- 
ham. I went to work to secure money to pay for 
the library, and secured all but about $400, which 
I thought I had the promise of, but it failed, and 
our librarian. Professor Harlow Lindley, afterwards 
went out and obtained that amount and had the 
books shipped, so that they are now in the library. 
These, with the books we already had gave Earlham 
a fine collection of Friends books and writings. Hav- 
ing spent what time I thought best, I returned to 
Indiana and continued the work in the two yearly 
meetings of Indiana and Western, taking subscrip- 
tions both for the library and dormitory, but most 
anxious for the former. I soon had a little over 
the required amount of $30,000, and having made 
the library fund safe, I returned to California, 
where I rode through the country and visited Friends 
at Pasadena, Los Angeles, Long Beach and other 
points. It was slow and arduous work. 



HELPING COLLEGES 401 

Raising $50,000 in One Meeting 

Yearly meeting came on, and we were still some 
$50,000 behind. An educational meeting was held 
one night, much interest created, and a sufficient 
amount was promised to reduce the required sum 
down to about $30,000. When the final report of 
the college came before the meeting we were unde- 
cided what to do — whether to undertake to raise the 
balance or not. President Tebbetts, Dr. Coffin, the 
president of the board, and my associate, Rayner 
Kelsey, all spoke without making an appeal. Indeed, 
we all felt that it was useless to make any further 
effort to raise the amount. It was a serious time, 
for if we failed, what had been done would be lost. 
Then I spoke, and as I closed a dear Friend whom 
I had asked before for $500 rose and said, with 
much feeling, that he felt he ought to give $500. 
It broke the spell, and several others followed with 
liberal subscriptions who had refused before. 

Rayner Kelsey then came to the front and made 
an impassioned appeal, Dr. Coffin and President 
Tebbetts stood up, and one after another we made 
remarks. I have seen many interesting scenes where 
amounts were raised, such as the occasion when 
Moody raised $60,000 in Providence, Rhode Island, 
in a short time, and the occasion when the missionary 
board raised something like $100,000 in two hours, 
but I never saw a congregation so intensely in 
earnest as was California Yearly Meeting that after- 
noon One after another came forward, and with 
deep emotion subscribed, until we had only $12,000 
left. Then a proposition was made to raise $5,000 
in $1,000 subscriptions. It was soon taken by those 



40 2 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

who had already done well. The first went to 
Washington Hadley who had given in the beginning 
$20,000 on condition that the $100,000 be all raised. 
Soon all was taken, the president's wife, Imelda 
Tebbetts, taking the last $1,000. His family had 
already subscribed something like $4,000. Then 
it was asked how many would stand good for $50 
provided it was all taken. I believe 50 or 60 stood 
on that call, reducing the amount to about $2,000. 
That was taken in smaller sums, most of it by yotmg 
men and yotmg women, and some of it by the 
children. Thus, after a session of three or four 
hours, the announcement was made that all was 
pledged. I shall never forget the deep feeling of 
emotion that came over the meeting. Strong men 
and women stood and wept. There was not much 
outward excitement. There was a deep feeling of 
solemnity. Even some who were enemies to the 
college and had stayed away entered near the 
close, came vmder the power that rested over the 
meeting, and gave of their means. It had a unify- 
ing effect. It would be good for others of our 
meetings if they could be brought so imder the 
power of the Lord by giving of their means to 
build up His Kingdom that they would be melted 
together in love. At the close of the yearly meet- 
ing the board and faculty of the college gave me an 
expression of their appreciation for the help I had 
given, which I found among my papers and which 
I do not remember having shown to any person, un- 
less it be my wife. It was pleasant to see it, for I 
had forgotten it. 



HELPING COLLEGES 403 

In Oregon and Washington 

In a few days we left for Oregon. We stopped 
at San Jose, attended meeting on First-day, and 
spent a day visiting the ruins of San Francisco, and 
so on to Oregon, where we made our home with our 
dear friends, Jesse and Mary Edwards. We had a 
pleasant time and enjoyed the yearly meeting very 
much, yet I felt it to be my place to deal rather 
plainly and to bear my testimony against a spirit of 
judging and fault-finding that was creeping into the 
Church, especially a dogmatic theology which con- 
demned everyone who did not see things just as 
others did. How sad it is to see those who make 
such high claim of being led by the Spirit judging 
and condemning others in a most un-Christian and 
bigoted spirit. You can tell them as soon as they 
commence. They begin by finding fault. They 
cannot write an article or preach a sermon without 
indulging in bitterness, and they may indulge in this 
until I fear sometimes they verily believe they are 
doing the Lord service in persecuting others. In- 
deed, they feel that God has raised them up to save 
Zion. 

It is but just to say that those who in- 
dulged in this spirit, with little exception, were those 
who had come from other yearly meetings and had 
not resided there long. The body of the meeting 
labored together in much harmony and love, with 
a self-sacrificing spirit. Especially were they loyal 
to the Church and the college under their care, and 
I feel like saying again what I said in the Five Years' 
Meeting some years ago when Pacific College was 
imder consideration: "I believe there is not a 
college in America that has done more good with 



404 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

so small an amount of means. Back there sits a yoimg 
man who has worn out his life and here by my side 
sits a woman who is laboring and toiling to build up 
that institution." 

We left that yearly meeting with much love 
for the dear Friends who are doing a noble work 
on that portion of our Western coast. 

In accordance with the request of our committee 
for evangelistic and pastoral work, and in accord- 
ance with a concern which we had before leaving 
home, my wife and I then proceeded on our way to 
the State of Washington to attend the conference of 
Friends in that state. It was called to be held at 
Everett to consider what they should do about asking 
for a quarterly meeting, also as to whether they 
shotdd remain with Indiana Yearly Meeting or turn 
to Oregon. We felt it would be right to request 
Oregon Yearly Meeting to appoint two or three dele- 
gates to attend the conference with us and assist in 
coming to the right conclusion. Those who were 
appointed were a help, and we worked together in 
much love and unity. Indeed, the conference was a 
time of much spiritual blessing, and resulted in much 
good in strengthening the Church and unifying the 
membership of the various scattered meetings. 
It culminated in a request for a quarterly meeting 
to be established in the State of Washington and to 
be known as Puget Sound Quarterly Meeting, to 
be opened at Seattle. 

My wife and I spent some time in visiting the 
Friends in the State. We found an earnest little 
company at Tacoma, likewise at Langley, Seattle and 
Everett. The latter was much the largest meeting. 
Charles and May Replogle were doing a good work 



HELPING COLLEGES 405 

in keeping the Friends together in other places. 
We were much pleased with the result of their labors. 
At Seattle we found a few earnest Friends, who held 
their meetings in an old tent on the side of a hill 
in an out-of-the-way place. It was discouraging. 
Before leaving home I had thought that it might be 
right to see Elbridge Stuart, Samuel Hill and Hervey 
Lindley, three men who were brought up Friends, 
whose parents I had known, and whose ancestors 
came from North Carolina. They had all become 
rich. 

Meeting Elbridge Stuart one day, I told him 
I would like to meet them the next morning. He 
made an appointment, and on going to the office I 
found him and Hervey Lindley there, Samuel Hill 
being out of the city. I began by telling them about 
the Friends there and how they were situated, and 
closed by making an appeal to them for help. I 
found that they were not entirely ignorant of Friends 
and their needs, and that they had talked the matter 
over among themselves. When I had finished, 
Elbridge Stuart said something like this : " We knew 
what thee was coming for, and we have made up our 
minds to make this proposition: Because of our 
love for the Society of Friends, and in memory of 
our parents, we will buy a lot in a suitable part of 
the city, build a meeting-house on it, furnish it ready 
for holding meetings in, and turn it over to Indiana 
Yearly Meeting, on two conditions — first, that 
Indiana Yearly Meeting will select a suitable min- 
ister to reside here, and that the yearly meeting will 
look after the spiritual interest of the Church ; and, 
second, that thee will come out when the house is 
finished and attend the dedication." With a full 



4o6 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

heart I accepted the proposition on behalf of the 
yearly meeting, and agreed to their terms. Return- 
ing to the dear Friends, who were gathered at the 
home of William S. Sinton, I made my report. It 
was a time of rejoicing, and tears of joy were shed 
at the thought of having a home to meet in. 

These friends bought a first-class lot, built 
a nice building, costing in all about $12,000, and 
before the meeting-house was completed they 
bought a lot adjoining for $3,000 and erected a house 
on that for a parsonage that cost about $4,000, spend- 
ing, in all, something Hke $19,000 before the time 
came for the dedication. But more about that 
in the next chapter. 

Having visited all the meetings and having 
become more or less acquainted with the situation of 
Friends in that State, we returned home with a feel- 
ing of love and sympathy for them and with some 
sense of appreciation of the noble work they were 
doing. The fields are certainly white imto harvest 
and the laborers are far too few. 



Chapter XLVI 

FROM NORTH CAROLINA TO PUGET 
SOUND 

Eastern Quarterly Meeting, North Carolina 

Upon returning home I found a letter awaiting 
me, urging that I come to the opening of the new 
meeting-house at Rich Square, in the Hmits of East- 
em Quarterly Meeting, North Carolina. There 
had been a separation in this quarterly meeting a 
few years before, and those who went off were mem- 
bers of the meeting called Cedar Grove, where a new 
meeting-house had been built, leaving the old house 
at Rich Square for the Friends who remained loyal ' 
to the yearly meeting. The old house was also 
located to one side of the Friends settlement, so 
they went to work and built a new house in a suit- 
able location. This left them very much in debt, 
and they were anxious that I should be with them 
at the time of the opening of the new house and see 
if a sufficient amount could not be raised to liquidate 
the debt. As they had waited for me to return from 
the West and had postponed the date until after 
North Carolina Yearly Meeting, I felt that it would 
be right to go, for I had much sympathy for them 
under the circumstances, especially as the quarterly 
meeting and yearly meeting had come to the Chris- 
tian conclusion not to take possession by law of the 
meeting-house and schoolhouse that the Separatists 

(407) 



4o8 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

occupied, although the title was in the name of the 
yearly meeting and in a nimiber of other instances 
of similar separations Friends in other places had 
taken possession. But the dear Friends of North 
Carolina said: "We will not go to law, but let them 
occupy the property and we will endeavor to get 
along without it." A beautiful spirit of brotherly 
love. It might have been well if the same spirit 
had prevailed in other separations rather than 
going to war before the world and fighting through 
the courts, even if they did secure their property. It 
is better to suffer for Christ's sake. The Master, 
when reviled, reviled not again. 

So, obtaining a minute from our meeting to 
attend North Carolina Yearly Meeting and for other 
religious service within its limits, we were soon on our 
way. We have always enjoyed meeting with our 
dear friends of that yearly meeting, but in 1906 we 
had an unusually good yearly meeting. The sub- 
jects coming before the meeting were of great 
importance. It was largely attended, and many of 
the young people manifested an interest and took 
part in the business of the meeting, which is a 
healthy sign for the future. After the yearly meet- 
ing we visited a few meetings on our way, stopping 
a few days among the meetings in and around Golds- 
boro, then going to Rich Square, where we found the 
house spoken of above ready to be opened and set 
apart for religious service. It was a fine day. We 
had a large crowd. Near the close of the service I 
made an appeal for funds, which were subscribed 
without much trouble, and Friends felt much en- 
couraged because the debt had been met. We 
held meetings there imtil after the next First-day 



PUGET SOUND 409 

morning meeting. In the afternoon of that day we 
went over to the other neighborhood and had a very- 
large meeting in the Baptist meeting-house, nearby 
the meeting-house of the Separatists. The Metho- 
dist minister offering their house for a night meeting, 
we held one there at night, several of the Separatists 
coming in. 

From there we went on to Belvidere, to the 
home of our dear friend, Josiah Nicholson, with 
whom I had made my home, in the same house, 
nearly forty years before. We attended Piney Wood 
Meeting on First-day, visited the Upriver Meeting, 
and held a few meetings in the hall of the academy 
at Belvidere. It was tnily a time of spiritual bless- 
ing as we mingled with these Friends once more. 
Feeling our work done, we returned home in time 
for our yearly meeting, glad to be settled down in 
the home again. The year 1906 had been a busy 
year. I had crossed the Rocky Mountains four 
times and the Alleghenies six times, attended five 
yearly meetings, working in all of them more or less. 
The retrospect was pleasant. 

Puget Sound Quarterly Meeting 

I have already spoken of the conference held at 
Everett, in the State of Washington, in 1906, and 
the decision in regard to requesting a quarterly meet- 
ing. It was sent to Winchester Quarter, imited 
with by that meeting, and forwarded to the yearly 
meeting of 1906, which made the following minute: 
"Minute 27: Winchester Meeting was united in 
forwarding to us the following minutes from a con- 
ference of Everett, Seattle and Tacoma Monthly 
Meetings in th§ State of Washington, held Seventh 



4IO AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

month 22, 1906, also a minute from Everett Monthly 
Meeting, dated Eighth month 6, requesting a 
quarterly meeting to be composed of Everett, Seattle 
and Tacoma Monthly Meetings, and to be known 
as Puget Soimd Quarterly Meeting, to be opened at 
10.30 A. M. on the first Seventh-day in the First 
month of 1907, or at such time as meets the approval 
of the committee appointed to attend the opening. " 
"Minute 64: The Friends appointed to produce 
names to attend the opening of Puget Soimd 
Quarterly Meeting propose Allen Jay, Esther Cook, 
Charle Replogle and Naomi H. Jay, with whom 
the meeting unites. " As I have already said, our 
three friends in Seattle, who were building a house 
for the meeting and a parsonage, had not com- 
pleted their work. Our committee thought it best 
to wait until the house in Seattle was ready, so 
we postponed the opening till Ninth month 14, 
1907, at Seattle, Washington. 

The meeting of ministry and oversight was 
appointed and held the day before at 3 P. M. in a 
tent, as the meeting-house was not quite ready. 
Here I wish to say that our dear friends had done 
all they could to have ever3rthing ready, and the 
night before the opening Elbridge Stuart, with a 
number of other men, worked until midnight to have 
all completed. The meeting-house is a beautiful 
plain building. Colonial in style, veneered with dark 
red brick. It is 84 feet long, 42 feet wide, with a 
porch 9 feet wide across the front. The gable roof 
extends over the porch and is supported by four 
large columns. There is a vestibule, with side doors 
opening into the audience room. The meeting room 
has a raised floor and fine wainscoting, and is lighted 



PUGET SOUND 411 

with electricity. There is a nice, good-sized room 
in the rear for Bible school and other purposes. 
The btiilding is heated by a furnace, and neatly 
carpeted. 

Of our committee, Charles Replogle, Esther Cook 
and myself were present. Oregon Yearly Meeting 
appointed eight fraternal delegates to attend the 
meeting, six of whom were present, Jesse Edwards, 
Mary E. K. Edwards, John Frederick Hanson, S. 
Alice Hanson, Calva Martin and Frank Martin; 
also Francis K. Jones, acting president of Pacific 
College, was in attendance. The meeting gave to 
these Friends a warm welcome, asking them to feel 
at home and take part in the deliberations. Their 
sympathy and counsel were very helpfiil and en- 
couraging, expressing, as they did, so much good 
will and desire for the prosperity of the meeting. 
The meeting was opened with a period of silent wor- 
ship, in which the Lord's presence was graciously 
manifested. A sermon was preached and several 
Friends gave brief messages of Gospel love. "Rock 
of Ages" was sung with much feeling, all hearts being 
filled with gratitude and praise. The clerk of our 
committee, Esther Cook, then read Minutes 27 and 
64 of the printed minutes of Indiana Yearly Meeting 
of Friends, held at Richmond, Indiana, Ninth month 
2, 1906, authorizing the establishment of the quar- 
terly meeting. 

Then a report from a conference of delegates 
from the three monthly meetings was read, in which 
they placed in nomination the name of Elmer 
Harden, of Everett, for presiding clerk, and Sarah 
Abigail Thomas, of Tacoma, for recording clerk, 
which was united with, they being appointed and 



412 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

called to the table, taking charge of the business. 
The three monthly meetings were represented by 
their delegates, and responded to their names when 
called. Out of a membership of 290 there were 
present 212 members. In the afternoon session the 
state of the Society was considered, and the outlook 
was hopeful. The queries were read and representa- 
tives appointed to yearly meeting. The nominating 
committee submitted their report as follows: For 
treasurer, William Swan Sinton; for statistical sec- 
retary. May Replogle ; for Bible school superinten- 
dent, William Brown; temperance, Dorothy Lee; 
peace, Moses Votaw; foreign missions, Hosetta 
Sinton ; vice-president of Christian Endeavor, Hattie 
Davey. Puget Sound Quarterly Meeting was now 
established, and while feeling a sense of added 
responsibility, we believe they took up the work with 
a courageous spirit, proposing by the grace and 
leadership of the great Head of the Church to stand 
with their sister quarterly meetings and be faithful 
to their calling, publishing the good tidings of the 
glorious Gospel of our God, and upholding the 
standard of Friends in the great Northwest. 

First-day morning at 11 o'clock the audience 
room was well filled. After a time of silence, Edgar 
Williams with a few appropriate remarks opened the 
meeting and read the Scriptures, hymns were simg, 
Charles Replogle offered prayer, and I was led to 
preach a practical sermon from Romans 1:16, 
"I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ." The 
people gave close attention and received the message 
with responsive hearts. A subscription was taken 
amounting to about $3,000. Then, with solemn, 
fervent prayer, the house was dedicated to the Lord 
and His service. 



PUGET SOUND 413 

It is proper here to say that the evangeHstic com- 
mittee of Indiana Yearly Meeting nearly a year 
before this had selected J. Edgar Williams and 
placed him at Seattle as pastor of the meeting there, 
and to his energy and devotion to the work was due 
in great measure the fact that the buildings were 
ready at the time they were. He had taken a great 
interest in building up the Church also, and we can 
but hope that his labors may continue to be blessed 
to the enlargement of the Church in that place and 
in gathering a strong and living meeting of those who 
should believe with us. 

At the close of the quarterly meeting I turned my 
face once more towards home, reaching there in time 
for the yearly meeting of 1907 and the Five Years' 
Meeting which was to follow a few days later. 

We reached home a few days before yearly meet- 
ing, and found Friends looking forward with interest 
to what proved to be a very favored yearly meeting. 
There were present twenty ministering Friends with 
minutes from other yearly meetings. Among these 
were Sarah Jane Liu-ey, from North Somerset and 
Wiltshire Monthly Meetings, England, and Eliza- 
beth Beaven Rutter, a minister from Shaftsbury and 
Sherborne Monthly Meetings, England, also Bimji 
Kida, an evangelist from Tsuchiura, Japan. I 
believe North Carolina, Baltimore, New York and 
Canada were the only yearly meetings in America 
not represented. The business of the yearly meet- 
ing was conducted with much harmony and brotherly 
love. Our report of the opening of the new quarterly 
meeting in Seattle, called Puget Sound, was received 
with much interest. During the course of the meet- 
ing we were brought into a feeling of sympathy and 



414 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

love as we listened to a very appropriate memorial 
of our dear friend, Charies A. Francisco, who had 
been one of our most efficient reading clerks for a 
number of years. He held the position of one of 
the yearly meeting correspondents, and was useful 
in various departments of Church work. It was 
also felt that the message from London Yearly Meet- 
ing was very fresh and appropriate to our needs. 
The yearly meeting closed on Second-day, Ninth 
month 30, 1907. 



Chapter XLVII 
THE FIVE YEARS' MEETING OF 1907 

Much attention was now centered on the con- 
vening of the second Five Years' Meeting, which 
was called to meet Tenth month 15, 1907, at 7.30 
P. M., in the yearly meeting-house. It was felt to be 
an important meeting, and Friends met imder a 
solemn sense of the responsibility that rested upon 
them. One himdred and ninety-four delegates were 
sent up by the American yeariy meetings, all of 
them being represented except Ohio and Philadel- 
phia, the latter expressing its deep interest by a 
number of its members being present, who were 
warmly welcomed in our midst, it being known that 
owing to the isolated condition of Philadelphia 
Yearly Meeting, it could not officially appoint dele- 
gates. Almost all of the delegates were present. 
The places of the few who were absent were filled by 
the alternates. It was pleasant to look over the 
meeting and recognize that I had met them all before 
in other places, which gave additional pleasiu-e to 
welcoming them at Richmond. In addition to the 
above, London Yearly Meeting sent seven, and 
Dublin Yearly Meeting five fraternal delegates, who 
added to the usefulness and strength of the Five 
Years' Meeting. 

It is not my purpose to give an account of this 
memorable meeting, for any short account wotdd 
fail to do the subject justice. Besides, there has 

(415) 



4i6 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

been a full and clear account of the proceedings 
published, and the papers which were read on 
various subjects that came before the meeting have 
been put into book form and all published under the 
title, "Minutes and Proceedings of the Five Years* 
Meeting, 1907." This book shoiild be read by our 
members generally, especially our yoiuiger members, 
that they may learn of the work of the Church. 
They should feel that we are making history, and in 
order to be able to fill their places, they should be 
acquainted with what is going forward in the 
present day. For the first time the Five Years' 
Meeting was called upon to consider the propriety 
of setting up a new yearly meeting, to be known as 
Nebraska Yearly Meeting, to meet at Central City, 
in that State, and to be composed of five quarterly 
meetings belonging to Iowa Yearly Meeting, i. e., 
Hiawatha, with a membership of 112; Platte Val- 
ley, membership, (>2iZ'^ Union, membership, 121; 
Spring Bank, membership, 336; Mt. Vernon, mem- 
bership, 108; making the total membership 1,310. 
A committee of two from each delegation was ap- 
pointed to take the matter under consideration and 
report to a future sitting. This committee, after 
considering the matter, reported in favor of granting 
the request, and proposed that Allen Jay, David 
Hadley, Eliza H. Carey, Eliza C. Armstrong and 
John F. Hanson be appointed to attend the opening 
of this yearly meeting Sixth month 4, 1908. 

Another Bereavement 

While in common with other Friends our family 
had looked forward to the time when we would meet 
our dear friends and have a nimiber of them in our 



FIVE YEARS' MEETING OF 1907 417 

home, yet we were to be disappointed, for on Sec- 
end-day word came that our son-in-law, A. D. 
Titsworth, of Canton, Ohio, had died. His remains 
were brought to our home, and the funeral took 
place on First-day afternoon, Tenth month 24, 1907, 
during the time of the Five Years' Meeting. It was 
largely attended. This sad event cast a gloom over 
our home and prevented us from having many of 
our friends with us. Yet many of them called, and 
I was able to attend a number of the sessions. I 
shall pass over this important occasion by simply 
saying that whenever present I felt that the Master 
was with us, and that Friends generally returned 
to their homes feeling that the Church had been 
strengthened and unified during the days that were 
spent together. 

Nebraska Yearly Meeting 

As the time drew near for the opening of the 
new yearly meeting in Nebraska, our committee 
arranged to meet at Central City the day before the 
opening of said yearly meeting, and on the day ap- 
pointed the yearly meeting was opened. All the 
committee were present. We met in the morning 
before the opening and had a season of prayer, after 
which the meeting of ministry and oversight was 
opened. It was interesting to see a number of 
younger and middle-aged people present. The next 
morning, the 4th of Sixth month, the meeting proper 
was organized in the college chapel, which was on 
the third floor. It was a pleasant room when 
reached, but was not large enough. During the 
season of worship preceding the opening many 
prayers were offered and words of comfort and en- 

27 



41 8 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

couragement were spoken. The committee then 
called for nomination of clerks, when Dr. Cyrus W. 
Dixon was nominated for that place. He came 
forward, the minute of our appointment was then 
read as a portion of the opening minute, and in a 
few moments the yearly meeting was ready for 
business. A number of Friends who were present 
had been active members in Iowa Yearly Meeting 
or others of the older yearly meetings, so that they 
were soon ready to proceed with the work. It was 
truly encouraging to see the business conducted 
with life and inspiration, and it was especially 
gratifying to see so many yovrng Friends as active 
members on important committees Going into 
one of the class-rooms one day between sessions, 
I found three young women writing three epistles, 
one to London, one to Dublin, and the other a 
general epistle to the American Yearly ^leetings. 
Upon inquiry I learned that one of the writers was 
a teacher and the other two were students at- 
tending the college. There was great interest 
manifested on the subject of education, and much 
liberality was shown in providing for the needs of 
the college. The foreign mission work had warm 
advocates in this yearly meeting. Indeed there 
were four or five missionaries present who had 
actually been in the field and who were home for 
rest who belonged to this new yearly meeting. The 
missionary meeting was doubly interesting as we 
listened to those who had been in the field. They 
spoke but little of their trials or their privations, 
although one of them had lost one of her legs while 
in the field. She only spoke, however, of the joy of 
the work and of the hope that some day she might 



FIVE YEARS' MEETING OF 1907 419 

be able to return. A yearly meeting that has such 
devoted young people has cause to be thankful, and 
its light will shine. 

After the close of the yearly meeting our com- 
mittee felt that we should report to the next Five 
Years' Meeting that we believed it had been opened 
*'in accordance with the mind of truth," and our 
clerk, Eliza C. Armstrong, was requested to prepare 
such a report and send it to the clerk of the Five 
Years' Meeting, to be preserved and presented at 
that time. 

Ftsit to Puget Sound 

During this summer the evangelistic, pastoral 
and church extension committee of Indiana Yearly 
Meeting felt that it might be of advantage to the 
work if two of our number should visit the meetings 
of Puget Sound Quarterly Meeting and labor for 
their help and encouragement, that they might 
preserve unity and harmony throughout the quar- 
terly meeting. So, soon after returning home from 
Nebraska, I prepared to take another journey across 
the Rocky Mountains, our dear friend, Joseph A. 
Goddard, of Muncie, going with me. It was a long, 
hot journey. 

We worked together in much harmony, visiting 
all the meetings and helping as the way opened for it. 
In addition we visited the meetings in Victoria, 
British Columbia, had a meeting in the afternoon 
for the older people, and one at night for all classes. 
After the night meeting we returned to Seattle, 
some 75 miles. The boat was so crowded that we 
had to sit up all night. We were present at the 
opening of Friends new meeting-house in Tacoma. 



420 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALLEN JAY 

Having done all that we saw the way open for, we 
returned home by way of the Canadian Pacific Rail- 
road, enjoying the grand scenery very much. It 
was pleasant to be in the quiet and rest of home once 
more, where I remained until after yearly meeting. 

Central City Meeting-House 

Soon after the close of yearly meeting, our 
Friends of Central City, Nebraska, began to urge 
me to come out to their assistance in raising funds 
to pay for their new meeting-house. As I have 
said, the chapel in the college building was unhandy 
to get to and entirely too small; so, with the zeal 
that had characterized their efforts, they went to 
work and rebuilt and enlarged their house in 
Central City and fixed up a nice parsonage, at a cost 
of some $4,000 or $5,000. They had selected the 
last of Second month, 1909, as the time to set the 
new house apart for religious service. 

I went out to them, as they requested. Upon 
reaching Chicago I found it was raining hard. Next 
morning when we crossed the Mississippi River it 
was snowing. It soon turned into a blizzard, which 
proved to be the worst one I ever saw. We made 
slow progress. Indeed at times it seemed as though 
we should not get through. We did not reach our 
dining car until afternoon. The water pipes froze 
in the Pullman sleeper and burst, the water run- 
ning all over the floor. About 11 P. M. we reached 
Omaha, five hours late. The wires were down, and 
we could not send any word ahead; so when I 
reached Central City at 3 o'clock in the morning 
they had given me up, but through the kindness of 
a stranger I soon found a room. Next morning a 



FIVE YEARS' MEETING OF 1907 421 

good home was provided for me, and for eight or ten 
days I was kept busy. On First-day morning, at 
the time of the dedication, a large crowd was present. 
They needed about $2,100 to meet the debt on the 
meeting-house and parsonage. During the day we 
obtained about $3,100, with the understanding that 
the extra $1,000 should go to the college debt. It 
was a great day for the Fr ends of Central City. 
But I will not try to describe it, for others have 
written of it in the Nebraska Friend and other 
Friends papers. The series of meetings resulted in 
much good. At their close I bade farewell to the 
dear Friends of Nebraska with a deep appreciation 
of their devotion to the cause of the Master, and 
with the belief that a blessing would attend that 
yearly meeting in coming years. 

Conclusion 

This brings me to the close, and now, as I have 
passed my seventy-eighth year, I lay down my pen 
for younger fingers to take up, and, turning my 
face towards the western sunset of life, I grasp my 
staff to continue the journey to the end, leaving that 
time in the hands of Him who has been with me 
thus far and who " doeth all things well. " 



A History 

OF 

The Society of Friends 
in America 

By 
ALLEN C. THOMAS, A.M. 

HAVERFORD COLLEGE 
AND 

RICHARD H. THOMAS, M.D. 

BALTIMORE, MD. 



NEW AND REVISED EDITION, 1905 

Brought down to date and including valu- 
able statistics and information in regard to 
the Society of Friends in America. 



" A work on 'The History of the Society 
of Friends in America,' which is likely for 
many days to be a standard text-book on the 
subject." — The London Friend. 

" We have read it with interest. It gives 
evidence of much research and of a disposi- 
tion to observe the impartiality of faithful 
historians." — The Friend, Philadelphia. 



I2mo. Cloth. Price, $1.00 Net 
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PHILADELPHIA 



JESUS OF 
NAZARETH 

IN THE 

LIGHT OF TO-DAY 

By ELBERT RUSSELL 

Professor in EarlKam College 
Author of ** The Parables of Jesus" 

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In this book Professor Russell makes "an 
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The author considers the character of the 
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suming the standpoint of the intelligent man 
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Biblical criticism" — he makes a fresli inter- 
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12mo, 5i by 7f inclies. 112 pages. Silk Clotli 

Price 60 Cents Net 

Postage 6 Cents 

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The Quaker 
in the Forum 



By AMELIA MOTT OUMMERE 

Author of "The Quaker : A Study in Costume," 
" Witchcraft and Quakerism," etc. 

A New and Interesting Historical Study 

Mrs. Gummere has taken up in this work 
the study of an aspect of Quakerism which 
has hitherto received httle attention. 

Quakerism has made an impression up- 
on the two great EngHsh speaking nations 
of the globe in a way that is not yet fully 
appreciated, although the subject is begin- 
ning to receive more careful attention at 
the hands of competent historians. The 
author is concerned not with the impress 
made by the Quaker upon theology or 
philosophy, great as it has been, but with 
his influence upon social history. The 
unique feature of the Quaker's career has 
been that he largely succeeded in living 
out his unwritten creed in a philosophy 
that made belief a conduct of life and 
manifested to the world its practicability 
as a working theory. 

The subject is treated in a manner to interest students 
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general reader. This work contains fourteen interesting 
historical illustrations, some of which have not before 
been published. 

Price $1.50 Net 

THE JOHN C. yyiNSTON CO. 

PHILADELPHIA 






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